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THE  OREGON  COUNTEY 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 


The  Story  of  How  the  Line  was  Run  Between 
Canada  and  the  United  States 


BY 
JAMES  W.  BASHFORD 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
JAMES  W.  BASHFORD 


The  Bible  text  used  in  this  volume  is  taken  from  the  American  Standard 
Edition  of  the  Revised  Bible,  copvright,-1901,  by  Thomas  Nelson  &  Sons,  and 
is  used  by  permission. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE 7 

I.    THE  INDIANS*  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 19 

II.    JASON  LEE 36 

III.  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY  AND  GREAT 

BRITAIN 45 

IV.  DR.  MCLOUGHLIN 59 

V.    THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 70 

VI.    THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 81 

VII.    OREGON  PIONEERS 109 

VIII.  EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON  127 

IX.    MISSION  WORK 148 

X.     LEE  AROUSES  THE  EAST 160 

XI.    THE  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT 173 

XII.     FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 185 

XIII.  LEE'S  SUN  SETS 203 

XIV.  MARCUS  WHITMAN 232 

XV.    MARCUS  WHITMAN  (CONCLUDED) 255 

XVI.    RESUME 268 

APPENDIX  1 287 

APPENDIX  II 298 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 301 

INDEX..  .  305 


CALIFORNIA 


PREFACE 

THE  aim  of  this  book  is  to  portray  the  deeds  which 
determined  the  boundary  line  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  When  the  contest  began,  Mexico  owned  the  south 
western  portion  of  North  America  as  far  north  as  42° — 
the  northern  boundary  of  California;  and  Russia  owned 
Alaska  and  a  portion  of  the  mainland,  which  both  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  in  1824  recognized  as  ex 
tending  as  far  south  as  54°  40'.  Originally,  therefore, 
the  contest  involved  the  question  as  to  how  the  territory 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  between  Russia  on  the  north 
and  Mexico  on  the  south  should  be  divided  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  The  entire  region  was 
known  as  The  Oregon  Country.  The  area  embraced 
443,871  square  miles  of  territory,1  a  territory  considerably 
larger  than  the  whole  Atlantic  Coast  east  of  the  Appala 
chian  Mountains,  a  territory  whose  climate  and  whose 
mineral  and  agricultural  resources  make  its  natural  value 
as  great  as  that  of  any  equal  amount  of  territory  in  eastern 
North  America  or  western  Europe.  Moreover,  as  this 
territory  lies  within  the  Pacific  Basin — the  largest  and 
the  last  great  world  basin  to  be  developed — probably  its 
political  and  strategic  value  eventually  will  become  great, 
just  as  coastal  lands  in  the  Atlantic  Basin  and  in  the 
Mediterranean  Basin  are  of  great  importance  to-day. 

The  line  of  division  of  this  territory  between  the  United 

1  Chambers's  Encyclopaedia,  Philadelphia,  1884,  vol.  ix,  p.  647. 

7 


/PREFACE 


States  and  Great  Britain,  which  was  suggested  hy  our 
government  in  1818,  1824,  1826,  1843,  and  1845,  was  the 
extension  to  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  boundary  line  run 
ning  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Eocky  Mountains, 
that  is,  the  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude.  This  proposed 
line  would  give  to  the  United  States  286,541  square  miles2 
of  this  territory  and  Great  Britain  157,330  square  miles. 
The  United  States  did  not  make  any  settlement  upon  the 
157,000  square  miles.  Hence,  as  shown  by  the  offers  of 
our  government,  the  United  States  at  first  was  willing  to 
surrender  all  claims  to  the  territory  north  of  the  49th 
parallel  and  to  settle  the  question  easily  and  speedily  by 
the  extension  of  that  parallel  from  the  Eocky  Mountains 
to  the  Pacific  Coast.  We  could  readily  afford  this  line 
of  division  because  it  gave  the  United  States  the  larger 
and  better  portion  of  the  territory  in  dispute.  Great 
Britain  five  times  rejected  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude 
as  the  boundary  line,  and  she  finally  accepted  it  in  1846 
because  she  realized  that  the  only  alternative  was  war. 
The  bitter  and  defiant  feeling  existing  against  Great 
Britain  as  the  result  of  the  wars  of  1776  and  1812,  the 
erection  of  forts  and  the  exercise  of  civil  and  military 
authority  by  officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  over 
British  subjects  and  Indians  as  far  south  as  the  Mexican 
border,  at  last  provoked  Americans  to  claim  authority  as 
far  north  as  the  Eussian  border;  and  the  bitterness  and 
excitement  became  so  great  that  the  Democratic  party 
won  the  election  of  1844  with  the  campaign  cry,  "Fifty- 
four  Forty  or  Fight."  Hence,  the  entire  region  of  443,000 
square  miles  again  became  involved  in  the  conflict. 


3  Hammond,  Atlas,  part  ii,  p.  140. 

8 


PREFACE 

The  struggle,  known  as  the  Northwest  Boundary  dis 
pute,  clearly  emerged  into  consciousness  at  the  convention 
of  Ghent  in  1818,  which  provided  for  the  joint  occupation 
of  the  territory,  became  serious  on  the  union  of  the  North- 
West  Fur  Company  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in 
1821,  and  the  establishment  of  Fort  Vancouver  on  the 
Columbia  River  in  1824-25,  rapidly  developed  on  the 
erection  of  forts  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  south 
of  the  49th  parallel,  and  the  entrance  in  1834  of  American 
missionaries  into  the  Columbia  River  valley,  became  acute 
on  the  organization  of  the  Provisional  Government  of 
Oregon  in  1843,  and  nearly  involved  the  two  nations  in 
war  in  1846. 

It  is  because  the  Oregon  Missions,  including  the  Con- 
gregationalists,  the  Presbyterians,  the  Dutch  Reformed, 
and  the  Methodists,  helped  to  solve  the  problem;  it  is 
because  Jason  Lee,  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  and  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  helped 
to  solve  the  problem  without  a  war,  helped  to  solve  it  in 
a  manner  which  gave  each  of  the  two  great  Anglo-Saxon 
races  a  place  upon  the  Pacific  for  the  struggles  of  the 
twentieth  century;  and  it  is  because  these  missions  strug 
gled  for  the  conversion,  the  preservation,  and  the  uplift 
of  the  Indian  race,  that  our  share  in  the  Oregon  Missions 
is  the  most  important  joint  home  and  foreign  missionary 
enterprise  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

We  make  bold  to  take  our  readers  into  our  confidence 
and  tell  how  this  book  originated.  It  is  a  growth  rather 
than  the  result  of  a  deliberate  plan.  When  I  was  pastor 
at  Auburndale,  Massachusetts,  1881-84,  I  met  some  rela 
tives  of  Cyrus  Shepard,  a  member  of  the  first  group  of 
missionaries  to  Oregon;  they  were  living  in  the  adjoining 

9 


PEEFACE 

town  of  Weston,  where  I  occasionally  preached.  From 
them  I  first  heard  the  story  of  the  work  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  Oregon.  The  story  greatly  stirred 
me,  and  upon  obtaining  the  address  of  Daniel  Lee,  another 
member  of  the  first  group,  then  living  at  Caldwell,  Kansas, 
I  wrote  him  for  confirmation  and  for  fuller  facts.  I 
received  letters  from  Daniel  Lee  and  later  from  his  son, 
the  Eev.  William  H.  Lee.  The  facts  thus  gathered  seemed 
of  such  importance  that  I  spent  considerable  time  in  the 
Boston  Public  Library  studying  the  material  bearing  upon 
the  Oregon  question  in  order  to  verify  the  statements  and 
interpret  them.  I  here  first  learned  of  the  noble  part 
which  the  American  Board  had  played  in  the  settlement 
of  Oregon.  During  my  study  of  the  subject,  Professor 
William  I.  Marshall,  of  Chicago,  lectured  at  the  Auburn- 
dale  church  and  spent  the  night  in  our  home,  and  did 
much  to  stimulate  my  interest,  especially  in  the  problem 
of  Dr.  Whitman's  services  to  the  government,  in  which 
he  then  believed.  Out  of  the  personal  narratives  and  the 
letters  and  the  volumes  read  grew  an  address  on  missions, 
which  I  delivered  at  the  church  in  Auburndale  in  1882. 

Reports  of  the  address  reaching  my  district  superintend 
ent,  Willard  F.  Mallalieu,  I  was  made  one  of  the  speakers 
on  missions  at  the  Sunday  evening  session  of  the  New 
England  Conference  of  1883,  and  revised  the  address  and 
delivered  it  in  Music  Hall,  Boston.  Chaplain  C.  C. 
McCabe  heard  the  address  and  requested  it  for  publication. 
I  furnished  him  the  manuscript  under  the  title  "A  Ro 
mance  of  Missions."  He  told  me  later  that  he  had  sold 
between  twenty  and  thirty  thousand  copies  of  the  tract. 
The  narrative  thus  far  covers  the  first  result  of  my  interest 
in  the  Oregon  Missions. 

10 


PEEFACE 

But  my  interest  had  been  aroused  to  such  an  extent 
that  I  continued  year  after  year  reading  upon  the  subject.3 
In  my  reading  I  found  five  points  of  view  emerging.  The 
conflicting  views  led  to  the  consultation  of  additional 
volumes  in  the  Congressional  Library  at  Washington,  in 
the  library  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society,  in 
the  library  of  the  British  Museum,  and  in  the  library 
of  the  University  of  California,  which  contains  the  great 
collection  upon  the  Pacific  Coast  made  by  H.  H.  Bancroft. 
The  volumes  by  Mowry,  Nixon,  Barrows,  Eells,  and  Gray 
emphasized — indeed,  overemphasized — the  work  of  Dr. 
Whitman  to  the  neglect  of  other  factors  in  the  struggle. 
The  volumes  of  Lee  and  Frost,  of  H.  K.  Hines,  and  of 
Atwood4  did  the  same  for  Jason  Lee.  The  volumes  by 
Mrs.  Dye,  and  the  monumental  works  of  H.  H.  Bancroft, 
justly  honor  Dr.  McLoughlin,  but  depreciate  other  actors. 
The  volumes  by  the  English  writers,  George  Bryce,  Will- 
son,  and  Fitzgerald,  magnify  the  work  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  at  the  expense  of  the  other  parties,  includ 
ing  Dr.  McLoughlin.  The  lives  of  Tyler  and  of  Benton 
magnify  the  work  of  American  political  leaders  and  of 
the  American  government.  I  became  convinced  that  the 
various  parties  were  portraying  the  work  of  the  actors  in 
which  each  was  interested,  and  that  I  also  had  fallen  into 
partisanship  through  partial  knowledge.  My  dissatisfac 
tion  with  the  tract  published  in  1884,  my  desire  to  render 
justice  to  the  men  I  had  overlooked,  and  a  strong  convic 
tion  of  the  value  of  the  story  for  instruction  and  inspira- 

8  See  Bibliography. 

4  Dr.  Atwood's  gathering  of  data  showing  Jason  Lee's  influ 
ence  on  the  newspapers  of  the  Middle  West  is  an  exceedingly 
valuable  piece  of  work. 

11 


PREFACE 

tion  led  me  in  1910,  twenty-six  years  after  the  first  tract 
was  published,  to  furnish  the  Pacific  Christian  Advocate 
a  brief  history  of  the  Oregon  Missions.  In  these  articles 
I  attempted  to  set  forth  in  a  balanced  form  the  services 
of  the  various  actors  who  contributed  to  the  solution  of 
the  problem.  At  that  time  I  had  not  seen  any  volume 
distinctively  recognizing  the  work  of  each  factor  which 
contributed  to  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  problem  and 
setting  forth  the  claims  of  all  the  factors  in  due  propor 
tion.  But  I  was  convinced  that  a  fair  treatment  of  the 
subject  demanded  such  a  recognition. 

We  have  read  carefully  all  we  can  find  on  all  sides  of 
the  question.  We  appreciate  the  earnestness  and,  in  gen 
eral,  the  good  motives  of  the  champions  of  the  respective 
views.  We  join  with  Professor  Bourne  and  Mr.  Marshall 
in  correcting  the  extravagant  claims  originally  made  in 
behalf  of  Dr.  Whitman's  services.  In  the  natural  reaction 
from  exaggerated  claims  we  have  tried  not  to  fail  in 
recognition  of  such  influence  as  Dr.  Whitman  may  have 
exerted  upon  the  administration  at  Washington,  and  es 
pecially  upon  the  American  people. 

H.  H.  Bancroft's  Works  on  the  Pacific  Coast  are  a  monu 
ment  of  great  foresight,  of  untiring  industry,  and  of  unself 
ish  expenditure  of  time  and  money  in  collecting  sources 
which  were  rapidly  disappearing.  Mr.  Bancroft  has  a  pas 
sion  for  gathering  and  publishing  facts,  and  this  determina 
tion  to  tell  the  truth  and  the  whole  truth  gives  great  value 
to  his  writings.  We  think  that  his  volumes  reveal  de 
pendence  upon  the  labors  of  others  with  a  lack  of  sufficient 
oversight  to  give  unity  to  the  writings  published  under 
his  name.  This  defect  grows  out  of  the  greatness  of  his 
enterprise.  He  has  produced  over  fifty  volumes,  many 

12 


PREFACE 

of  them  running  from  five  hundred  to  seven  hundred 
pages  in  length.  No  author  can  personally  create  so  large 
an  historical  literature  involving  literally  tens  of  thou 
sands  of  historical  references.  It  must  be  said,  however, 
that  while  these  various  books  reveal  the  style  and  in  some 
measure  reflect  the  views  of  the  different  writers,  they 
are  distinguished  by  rare  accuracy  in  their  historical  refer 
ences  and  by  a  lofty  purpose  molding  them  throughout. 
Possibly  the  author  of  the  volumes  has  not  examined  with 
sufficient  care  all  the  material  relating  to  early  settlements 
in  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  etc.  But  the  most  serious  defect, 
and  in  our  judgment  the  only  serious  fault,  of  Bancroft's 
volumes  is  the  bias  sometimes  revealed  in  his  judgment 
of  the  various  actors.  While  an  historian  not  only  has 
the  right,  but  is  under  the  obligation  to  publish  all  the 
facts  which  reveal  the  character  of  a  public  man  whose 
life  he  is  portraying,  he  should  follow  the  golden  rule 
in  going  back  of  these  facts  and  determining  the  motives 
which  prompted  them.  At  this  point  Mr.  Bancroft  some 
times  reveals  a  cynical  tendency  which  is  to  be  deplored. 
We  have  an  illustration  of  this  tendency  in  the  controversy 
which  arose  between  him  and  the  Society  of  California 
Pioneers.  The  Rev.  Myron  Eells  criticizes  Mr.  Bancroft's 
rebuttal  of  the  high  claims  set  up  for  Dr.  Whitman.  To 
establish  his  claim  that  Mr.  Bancroft  is  an  unfair  his 
torian,  he  cites  Bancroft's  expulsion  from  honorary  mem 
bership  in  the  Society  of  California  Pioneers.  Dr.  Eells 
writes:  "Mr.  Bancroft  was  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Society.  In  October,  1893,  charges  were  made  against 
his  histories.  .  .  .  His  name  was  by  vote  stricken  from 
the  roll.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society  this  was 
reconsidered  in  order  to  give  Mr.  Bancroft  an  opportunity 

13 


PKEFACE 

to  defend  himself,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to'  take 
the  matter  in  charge.  Seven  counts  were  prepared  against 
him,  to  sustain  which  his  books  were  witnesses.  In  these 
counts  he  was  charged  with  having  distorted  the  facts 
and  truth  of  history,  'maligned  the  memory  of  many  of 
the  men'  conspicuous  in  early  events,  .  .  .  and  of  having 
a  spirit  of  prejudice  and  seemingly  malignant  dislikes 
and  hatreds  of  the  men  about  whom  he  had  written."5 
"Mr.  Bancroft  was  requested  to  appear  before  a  committee 
of  the  Society  and  answer  the  charges.  He  failed  to 
appear,  and  another  time  was  set  when  he  also  failed  to 
appear.  A  third  time  was  set  which  he  likewise  ignored, 
whereupon,  February  5,  1894,  when  eighty  members  of 
the  Society  were  present,  his  name  was  unanimously 
stricken  from  the  roll  of  honorary  membership  of  the 
Society."6 

We  appreciate  the  indignation  with  which  Mr.  Bancroft 
and  his  co-workers  witnessed  the  misrepresentation  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  motives  and  some  injustice  done  him 
throughout  his  life  by  American  citizens,  by  some  mis 
sionaries,  and  for  a  time  by  the  governments  of  Oregon 
and  the  United  States.  We  appreciate  too  the  moral 
indignation  with  which  they  witnessed  the  later  struggles 
of  certain  representatives  of  the  churches,  including  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  secure  valuable  land 
grants  from  the  government  in  return  for  spiritual  services 


6Eells,  A  Reply  to  Professor  Bourne's  "The  Whitman 
Legend,"  p.  26. 

8  Ibid.,  pp.  26-27.  Dr.  Eells  bases  his  statement  upon  a 
pamphlet  of  thirty-seven  pages  published  in  February,  1894, 
entitled  The  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  California  Pioneers 
in  Reference  to  the  Histories  of  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft. 

14 


PEEFACE 

rendered  by  their  predecessors  to  the  Indians  and  the 
pioneers.  The  tendency  of  all  such  efforts  is  to  com 
mercialize  Christianity,  to  lead  to  extravagant  claims  in 
behalf  of  spiritual  workers,  and  to  drag  into  the  mire  of 
controversy  the  memories  of  dead  heroes  and  heroines. 
But  in  the  reaction  we  think  Mr.  Bancroft  went  too  far — 
not  in  publishing  facts  but  in  misinterpreting  them.  Our 
readers  will  be  prepared  for  his  occasional  misjudgment 
of  the  efforts  of  missionaries  from  reading  his  false  and 
antiquated  estimate  of  missionary  work  in  general,  though 
even  here  he  shows  a  desire  to  be  fair:  "The  missionaries 
of  the  several  denominations  who  played  so  prominent  a 
part  in  the  settlement  of  Oregon  and  of  other  sections  of 
the  Northwest  Coast  were,  in  the  main,  intelligent,  honest, 
well-meaning  men,  who  sought  to  do  the  best  for  them 
selves,  their  families,  their  country,  and  their  God.  .  .  . 
I  am  prepared  to  do  honor  to  the  pioneer  missionaries  of 
the  Northwest,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  for  I  believe  them 
to  have  been  single-hearted  men  and  actuated  by  the  purest 
motives,  though  I  must  be  permitted  to  take  exception  to 
such  acts  as  appear  to  me  unwise,  impolitic,  or  unjust.  .  .  . 
Speaking  generally,  all  missionary  effort  is  a  failure.  .  .  . 
Missionary  effort  seeks  to  lift  the  savage  mind  from  the 
darkness  of  its  own  religion,  which  God  and  nature  have 
given  it  as  the  best  for  it,  and  to  fix  it  on  the  abstract 
principles  of  civilized  belief  which  it  cannot  comprehend. 
It  seeks  to  improve  the  moral  and  material  conditions  of 
the  savage  when  its  very  touch  is  death.  The  greatest 
boon  Christianity  can  confer  upon  the  heathen  is  to  let 
them  alone/'7  This  utterly  false  philosophy  of  history 

7  Bancroft,  History  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  vol.  i,  pp.  548- 
549. 

15 


PEEFACE 

led  Bancroft  at  times  to  fail  to  do  justice  to  the  motives 
of  men  employed  in  what  he  regarded  as  a  Quixotic  enter 
prise.  But  it  will  be  easy  to  point  out  his  bias  where  it 
threatens  any  injustice  to  the  characters  which  we  are 
portraying.  We  cannot  sufficiently  express  our  personal 
indebtedness  to  Bancroft's  volumes  or  our  appreciation 
of  the  man  who  has  undertaken  and  has  carried  to  a 
successful  issue  so  monumental  a  service  to  the  people 
of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Besides,  we  are  sure  that  he  too 
has  striven  honestly  according  to  his  judgment  to  set  forth 
in  balanced  form  the  work  of  the  various  actors  in  the 
drama.  Moreover,  his  occasional  unjust  exaggeration  of 
faults  in  our  heroes  helps  to  correct  the  tendency  to  drama 
tize  history,  which  all  historians  fall  into,  and  which  most 
of  us  as  readers  demand.  We  instinctively  create  heroes. 
The  American  Revolution,  with  all  its  glorious  conse 
quences,  is  credited  to  Washington,  the  Civil  War  to  Lin 
coln,  while  we  fail  to  give  the  just  meed  of  praise  to  the 
minor  actors  whose  sacrifices  made  possible  the  triumphs 
of  our  heroes.  Hence,  if  we  tarry  in  our  exaltation  of 
the  missionaries  to  narrate  the  achievements  of  others;  if 
Bancroft  forces  us  in  portraying  the  services  of  Lee  and 
Whitman  to  descend  from  the  heights,  to  abate  much  of 
partisan  claims  in  their  behalf,  to  recognize  their  blunders 
and  their  limitations,  or  even  to  engage  in  controversy 
over  them,  we  trust  that  the  disappointment  of  our  readers 
over  delays  and  diversions  in  the  story  will  be  overborne 
by  their  growing  conviction  that  our  narrative  is  rooted 
in  reality.  The  desire  to  justify  this  conviction  in  dealing 
with  controverted  questions  is  our  only  excuse  for  burden 
ing  our  pages  with  references  to  authorities. 

We  are  deeply  indebted  to  our  secretary,  the  Rev.  Joseph 

16 


PREFACE 

P.  MacMillan,  whose  passion  for  accuracy  led  him  to  a 
large  amount  of  research  as  to  dates,  names,  and  details 
found  in  the  volume.  Doubtless  mistakes  will  yet  be  dis 
covered,  but  we  do  not  think  any  serious  error  of  fact  will 
be  found  upon  any  controverted  subject. 

We  have  called  this  book  "The  Oregon  Missions,"  be 
cause  we  have  given  the  most  space  to  the  missionaries. 
We  have  done  this,  first,  because  we  think  their  work  the 
most  important  single  factor  in  securing  without  a  war 
the  wise  division  of  this  territory  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States;  and,  second,  because  their  work, 
and  especially  that  of  the  Methodists,  is  the  least  known. 

It  is  due  to  Methodism  that  one  of  her  greatest  heroes 
should  be  reclaimed  from  the  unfair  estimate  in  which 
Bancroft's  portrayal  leaves  him  and  placed  before  the 
world  in  his  true  proportions.  It  is  also  due  to  the 
strongest  Protestant  church  in  Christendom  that  her 
writers  rise  above  provincialism  and  place  Methodist  men 
and  movements  in  due  perspective  with  the  men  of  other 
churches  and  the  great  movements  of  the  nation  and  the 
world. 

In  a  word,  the  desire  to  recognize  clearly,  even  if  we 
do  not  fully  portray,  the  services  of  each  group  of  actors 
in  the  Oregon  drama  is  one  of  the  motives  which  have  led 
to  the  writing  of  this  volume.  Incidentally  we  wish  to  set 
forth  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  the  work  of 
one  of  her  great  missionaries  while  the  materials  are  avail 
able  for  placing  these  services  upon  a  plane  beyond  reason 
able  controversy.  But  the  determining  motive  which  led 
to  the  writing  of  the  volume  was  the  desire  growing  through 
thirty  years  to  show  how  the  Divine  Providence  guided  all 
the  complex  forces  engaged  in  the  struggle  to  such  a  di- 

17 


PREFACE 

vision  of  this  territory  as  conserved  justice,  preserved  peace, 
advanced  civilization  and  gave  each  of  the  English-speak 
ing  nations  a  position  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  inestimable 
value  for  the  struggles  of  the  coming  centuries. 


18 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

HISTORY  will  recognize  that  the  Indians  themselves  by 
a  visit  to  Saint  Louis  helped  start  the  movements  which 
created  the  Oregon  Missions  and  precipitated  the  struggle 
for  the  possession  of  the  Oregon  Country.  Despite  the 
efforts  of  the  missionaries,,  and  in  part  by  reason  of  those 
efforts,  the  visit  of  the  Indians  caused  their  own  more 
speedy  death.  Their  cry  for  light  brought  the  missionaries 
to  their  side;  the  reports  sent  home  by  the  missionaries 
brought  the  hunters  and  trappers  and  settlers  with  fire 
arms,  liquor,  and  lust,  which  hastened  the  decay  of  the 
Indian  race;  the  missionaries  themselves  by  digging  and 
plowing  up  the  ground  and  leaving  ditches  and  furrows 
for  pools  of  water,  and  by  providing  schoolhouses  for  the 
children  and  advising  homes  for  the  Indians,  unwittingly 
contributed  to  the  more  rapid  spread  of  malaria  and  of 
tuberculosis,  which  swept  off  their  Indian  wards  like  a 
plague.  Christians  mourn  all  the  more  deeply  the  out 
come  for  the  Indians,  since  their  visit  to  Saint  Louis 
originated  in  the  highest  impulses  which  can  move  the 
human  soul. 

One  afternoon  in  the  winter  of  1831-32  three  Nez  Perces 
and  one  Flathead  Indian  appeared  on  the  streets  of  Saint 
Louis  with  a  request  which  no  white  man  had  ever  heard 
before.1  They  came,  they  said,  from  the  land  of  the 

1  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  54,  55. 

19 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

setting  sun;  they  had  heard  of  the  white  man's  God,  and 
they  wished  to  learn  how  to  worship  Him. 

General  William  Clark,  then  Indian  agent  resident  at 
Saint  Louis,  had  become  acquainted  with  these  tribes  on 
the  famous  tour  of  exploration  of  the  Columbia  River 
region  by  Captain  Meriwether  Lewis  and  himself  in  1804- 
06.  He  accordingly  tried  to  teach  them  what  he  regarded 
as  the  true  Christian  doctrine,  but,  in  accordance  with  his 
religious  views,  he  did  not  deem  it  wise  to  give  them  the 
Bible. 

In  1832  the  United  States  government  sent  William 
Walker,  Jr.,  a  Christian  halfbreed  of  the  Wyandot  nation, 
from  Ohio  to  Missouri  to  select  lands  to  which  the  Wyan- 
dots  could  be  moved.  On  reaching  Saint  Louis,  Walker 
called  on  General  Clark  and  presented  his  credentials. 
While  discussing  the  mission  upon  which  he  was  sent, 
General  Clark  remarked  that  three  Indians  from  the  West 
were  now  in  another  room  ill,  and  that  the  fourth  member 
of  the  company  had  died  recently.  On  Clark's  invitation, 
Walker  went  into  the  room  to  see  these  Indians,  and  soon 
learned  from  them  and  General  Clark  that  they  had  made 
a  journey  of  some  two  thousand  miles  to  secure  the  Bible. 
Was  there  a  suggestion  of  Divine  Providence  in  the  fact 
that  this  government  official  with  Indian  blood  in  his 
veins,  three  hundred  miles  from  home,  should  meet  these 
searchers  after  God,  two  thousand  miles  from  their  home, 
and  that  a  United  States  general  should  tell  a  Methodist 
Indian  agent  of  the  pagan  Indians'  wish  to  learn  the  way 
of  eternal  life  ?  The  story  deeply  stirred  William  Walker, 
and  he  at  once  wrote  a  letter  to-  G.  P.  Disosway,  a  Meth 
odist  merchant  of  New  York  city.  Walker  appealed  to 
Disosway  because  Disosway  had  helped  furnish  the  funds 

20 


THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

to  support  the  mission  among  his  Wyandot  brethren,  just 
as  in  1819  he  had  helped  form  the  Missionary  Society  ^.of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Disosway  sent 
Walker's  letter  to  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal 
and  Zion's  Herald,  with  an  appeal  for  help  written  by 
himself,  both  of  which  appeared  in  the  issue  of  March  1, 
1833.  When  President  Wilbur  Fisk,  of  Wesleyan  Uni 
versity,  Middletown,  Connecticut,  read  Walker's  story,  it 
was  like  fire  shut  up  in  his  bones.  He  sounded  through 
the  Advocate  a  trumpet  blast:  "Hear!  Hear!  Who  will 
respond  to  the  call  from  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains?" 
He  called  for  two  young  men,  unencumbered  by  families, 
and  with  the  spirit  of  the  martyrs,  to  throw  themselves 
into  the  Indian  nation,  learn  the  language,  teach  them 
Christianity  and  farming  and  civilization.  He  added  in 
closing  that  he  had  one  of  these  young  men  in  mind,  "of 
whom  I  can  say,  I  know  of  none  like  him  for  the  enter 
prise."2 

Varying  accounts  of  the  cause  of  this  strange  Indian 
journey  are  given,  and  probably  some  knowledge  of  the 
true  God  had  reached  the  Indians  through  several  sources : 

(1)  In  Walkers  letter  to  G.  P.  Disosway  he  says  that 
General  Clark  gave  the  following  as  the  reason  of  their 
journey:  Some  white  men  passing  through  the  Indians' 
country  had  witnessed  their  religious  ceremonies.  One 
of  the  white  hunters  told  them  that  their  mode  of  worship 
was  wrong  and  displeasing  to  the  Great  Spirit.  He  added 
that  the  white  men  far  to  the  rising  sun  had  a  book 
containing  directions.  The  Indians  called  a  council  and 
said:  "If  this  be  true,  we  must  know  more  about  it;  it 


2  Quoted  by  Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  25. 

21 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

is  a  matter  that  cannot  be  put  off."8    As  a  result  of  this 
council  four  of  their  chiefs  were  sent  on  the  long  journey. 

(2)  The  Rev.    Samuel   Parker  in  his  Journal   of  an 
Exploring  Tour  Beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  attributes 
the  knowledge  which  the  ISTez  Percys  had  of  Christianity 
to  Pierre  C.  Pambrun,  one  of  the  agents  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  a  man  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith;4  and 
this  testimony  is  repeated  by  Lyman  in  his  History  of 
Oregon.5 

(3)  E.  W.  Sehon,  of  Saint  Louis,  on  seeing  Walker's 
letter  in  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal  and  Zion's 
Herald  of  March  1,  1833,  narrating  the  story  of  the  In 
dians'  search  for  God,  was  greatly  interested  and  called  on 
General  Clark  and  showed  him  the  account.     Later  he 
wrote  a  letter  which  was  published  in  the  Advocate  of 
May  10,  1833,  in  which  he  says:  "General  Clark  informed 
me  that  the  publication  which  appeared  in  the  Advocate 
was  correct,  and  that  the  cause  of  the  visit  of  the  Indians 
was:  Two  of  their  number  had  received  an  education  at 
some  Jesuitical  school  in  Montreal,  Canada,  and  had  re 
turned  to  the  tribe  and  endeavored  as  far  as  possible,  to 
instruct  their  brethren  how  the  whites  approached  the 
Great  Spirit.    A  spirit  of  inquiry  was  aroused,  a  deputa 
tion  was  appointed,  and  a  tedious  journey  of  three  thou 
sand  miles  was  performed  to  learn  for  themselves  of  Jesus 
and  him  crucified.  .  .  ."6    This  third  account  is  inaccurate 
in  the  use  of  the  word  "Jesuitical"  for  "Jesuit,"  and  in 


8  Quoted  by  Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  25. 

4  Quoted  by  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  110. 

5  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  iii,  p.  85. 

8  Quoted  by  Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  27. 

22 


THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

making  the  length  of  the  journey  three  thousand  miles,  in 
stead  of  approximately  two  thousand  miles,  and  it  differs 
from  Walker's  report  of  General  Clark's  statement  of  the 
cause  of  the  journey.  But  General  Clark's  information  that 
the  Indians  gained  some  knowledge  of  God  through  Indian 
students  returning  from  Catholic  schools  probably  was 
gained  by  interviews  with  the  Indians  subsequent  to  his 
statement  made  to  Walker;  and  it  is  reenforced  by  the 
experience  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker,  who  found  a  young 
Indian  who  had  attended  school  in  the  Red  River  settle 
ment  able  to  translate  for  him  as  he  preached  to  a  group 
of  Nez  Perces  and  Spokanes.7  Parker  also  observed  the 
Indians  preparing,  according  to  Roman  Catholic  custom, 
to  place  a  cross  at  the  head  of  the  grave  of  an  Indian 
child  which  they  had  just  buried,  but  he  objected  to  their 
doing  this.8  The  return  of  Indian  students  from  a  Chris 
tian  school  is  a  very  probable  source  of  some  Indian  knowl 
edge  of  the  true  God. 

(4)  The  Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Saint  Louis,  in  a 
letter  written  October  20,  1839,  to  the  General  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  at  Rome,  says  that  as  early  as  1812  some 
Catholic  Iroquois  from  Canada  settled  among  the  Flat- 
heads  and  taught  them  religion,  and  that  about  1830, 
again  in  1832,  and  once  more  in  1839,  Flatheads  or 
Iroquois-Flatheads  came  to  Saint  Louis  for  more  light.9 
Probably  the  Iroquois  immigrants  were  an  additional 
source  of  Nez  Perce  enlightenment. 

Inasmuch  as  Hee-oh-ks-te-kin's  speech  shows  that  the 

7  Quoted  by  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  122. 

8  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  115. 

9  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  i,  p.  287. 

23 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

object  of  the  Indians'  visit  to  Saint  Louis  was  to  get  the 
Bible,  which  the  Catholics  do  not  use  in  public  worship 
or  furnish  to  their  members,  the  Indians  apparently  were 
influenced  by  the  statement  of  the  Protestant  hunter  as 
well  as  by  earlier  Roman  Catholic  teaching.  At  any  rate, 
Protestant  missions  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  the  settle 
ment  of  Oregon  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  in  which 
it  took  place  were  due  to  the  journey  of  the  Nez  Perce  and 
Flathead  Indians  to  Saint  Louis  in  1833.  The  genuine 
ness  of  Hee-oh-ks-te-kin's  speech  has  been  questioned.  We 
cannot  trace  it  back  of  the  Eev.  H.  H.  Spalding — a  Presby 
terian  missionary  who  first  published  it  about  1865,  as  he 
claimed  it  was  originally  delivered  by  the  Indian.  The 
brevity  and  eloquence  of  this  speech  in  comparison  with 
Mr.  Spalding's  style  lead  to  the  conviction  that  the  basis 
of  the  speech  is  genuine.  We  have  included  the  speech 
in  Chapter  XVI — the  "Resume,"  so  that  our  readers 
may  see  it  and  form  their  own  conclusions. 

But  the  Indians  contributed  more  to  the  missionary 
settlement  of  Oregon  than  the  single  visit  to  Saint  Louis. 
Two  Indian  boys  of  the  Flathead  tribe,  with  their  heads 
flattened  according  to  the  custom  of  the  tribe,  were  brought 
to  Massachusetts  by  Captain  N.  J.  Wyeth  on  his  return 
in  1833  from  his  first  trip  to  Oregon,  and  he  kept  them 
until  he  returned  to  the  West  in  1834.  Jason  Lee,  of 
whom  we  shall  learn  later,  with  the  genius  for  friendship 
and  for  securing  cooperation  which  characterized  him  in 
all  his  enterprises,  induced  Captain  Wyeth  and  the  two 
Indian  boys  to  attend  a  mass  meeting  in  Bromfield  Street 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Boston,  in  November,  1833. 
Wilbur  Fisk,  Jason  Lee,  and  Captain  Wyeth  spoke,  and 
the  two  Indian  boys  were  introduced  and  created  great 

24 


THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

enthusiasm — all  of  which  led  to  an  offering  of  $120  for  the 
mission  to  the  Indians.  Thus  the  Indians  helped  to  secure 
the  funds  which  made  possible  the  Methodist  participation 
in  the  Oregon  Missions. 

The  Indians  made  a  further  contribution  to  the  Oregon 
Missions.  When  Jason  Lee  returned  from  Oregon  in  1837, 
he  brought  with  him  three  half-Indian  boys,  sons  of 
Captain  Thomas  McKay,  whom  he  placed  in  Wilbraham 
Academy.  He  also  brought  two  other  Indian  boys  named 
William  Brooks  and  Thomas  Adams,  whom  he  planned 
to  put  into  school  later,  but  through  whom  first  he  hoped 
to  interest  the  church  in  the  evangelization  of  the  Indians 
in  the  Oregon  Country.  Both  boys  proved  interesting 
speakers,  and  Brooks  especially  helped  Lee  greatly  in 
awakening  the  enthusiasm  which  secured  funds  for  the 
Mission  and  led  to  emigration  to  Oregon.  At  a  public 
meeting  in  Washington,  Brooks  spoke  for  the  first  time 
in  English.  Among  other  things  he  said,  "Indians  must 
have  agreement  in  writing  that  white  man  do  not  sell 
whisky  to  Indians;  white  man  make  it,  and  white  man 
must  drink  it."  Immense  applause  greeted  this  remark. 
A  woman  in  another  audience  asked  him  why  the  Indians 
followed  the  foolish  custom  of  flattening  the  head.  He 
answered:  "All  custom;  Indian  make  flat  the  head.  .  .  . 
You,"  looking  at  her  and  putting  his  hands  on  his  waist, 
"make  small  here;  customs  differ;  all  custom." 

As  Brooks  turned  from  his  witty  answer  and  began  to 
portray  his  people's  ignorance  of  God  and  of  the  way  to 
heaven,  and  their  lonely  lives,  he  burst  into  tears  and  the 
audience  was  deeply  stirred,  and  money  was  freely  offered 
for  the  evangelization  of  Oregon.  Like  multitudes  of  his 
brothers  and  sisters  in  Oregon,  Brooks  could  not  stand 

25 


THE  OBEGON  MISSIONS 

the  sudden  change  from  outdoor  to  indoor  life,  and  he 
was  stricken  with  tuberculosis.  He  was  taken  to  a  beauti 
ful  home  in  New  York  city,  but  Christian  comforts  could 
not  compensate  for  the  sick  lad's  loneliness. 

"I  want  to  go  home/'  he  said. 

"To  your  home  in  Oregon?"  asked  Jason  Lee,  bending 
over  him. 

"No,"  he  replied,  "to  my  home  in  heaven." 

Who  doubts  that  the  keen-witted  Indian  boy,  by  his 
eloquent  speeches  and  his  lonely  death,  helped  stir  the 
hearts  of  Methodists  to  make  the  large  contributions  which 
that  church  put  into  the  Oregon  Missions? 

But  the  greatest  work  which  the  Indians  did  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  missionary  societies  and  the  churches 
was  their  response  to  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries.  Never 
before  had  these  Indians  known  white  men  who  came  to 
them  solely  for  the  Indian's  welfare,  as  did  the  Lees,  the 
Perkins,  the  Spaldings,  the  Whitmans,  and  the  Eoman 
Catholic  missionaries;  and  their  responsiveness  to  mis 
sionary  efforts  was  often  remarkable.  One  Indian  boy  in 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  school,  taught  by  Solomon 
Smith  at  Fort  Vancouver,  mastered  reading,  writing,  and 
Daboll's  arithmetic  in  eleven  months.10  Large  numbers, 
old  and  young,  heard  the  gospel  and  readily  accepted  the 
Christian  faith.  The  total  number  of  those  who  responded 
to  the  preaching  of  the  Methodists  aggregated  several  thou 
sand.  Many  of  them  backslid  and  many  died,  but  a 
remnant  remained  faithful.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins  kept  a 
diary  which  he  sent  home.  In  1841  the  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  published  tract  No. 

10  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  162. 

26 


THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

300,  entitled,  "Wonderful  Work  of  God  Among  the  In 
dians  of  Oregon."  It  consisted  of  extracts  from  Perkins's 
diary  showing  the  conversion  of  over  eight  hundred  In 
dians  at  Wascopam  (The  Dalles)  in  the  revival  of  1839. 
Daniel  Lee  records  the  following  prayer  of  one  of  the 
Indians  who  had  been  converted:  "0  thou  great  God  on 
high,  we  now  pray  to  thee.  Our  fathers  knew  thee  not; 
they  died  in  darkness,  but  we  have  heard  of  thee.  Now 
we  see  a  little.  Truly  we  are  wretched;  our  hearts  are 
blind,  dark  as  night;  our  ears  are  closed;  our  hearts  are 
bad,  full  of  evil,  nothing  good.  Truly  we  now  pray  to 
thee.  0  make  us  good;  put  away  our  bad  hearts;  give 
thy  Holy  Spirit  to  make  our  hearts  soft!  0  make  our 
hearts  good,  all  good,  always  good !  Now  we  desire  thee ; 
0  come  into  our  hearts — now  come.  Jesus  Christ,  thy 
Son,  died  for  us,  0  Jesus,  wash  our  hearts !  Behold  and 
bless.  Amen."11  Tens  of  thousands  of  copies  of  the 
tract  containing  the  extracts  from  Perkins's  diary  and 
this  prayer  were  circulated. 

The  Rev.  Gushing  Eells,  of  the  American  Board,  reports 
that  the  Indians  in  his  station  sometimes  spent  whole 
nights  repeating  the  Lord's  Prayer,  portions  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  words  of  the  missionaries,  and  that  as  many  as 
two  thousand  Indians  at  one  time  made  a  public  confes 
sion  of  sin  and  promised  to  serve  God.12  He  adds  that 
many  of  them  evidently  had  no  clear  idea  of  what  they 
were  doing;  yet  not  a  few  gave  evidence  later  of  genuine 
conversion.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Eells's  report  shows  that  there 
were  large  revivals  among  the  Indians  under  the  labors 
of  the  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  of  the  Ameri- 

11  Quoted  by  Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  99. 
"Warren,  Memoirs  of  the  West,  D.  11. 

2? 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

can  Board  as  well  as  under  the  Methodist  missionaries. 
Reports  of  these  large  revivals  were  sent  East  and  con 
tributed  to  the  reenforcement  of  the  Missions  and  to  the 
American  settlement  of  Oregon. 

There  are  indeed  calamities  which  lead  to  the  downfall 
of  a  nation  or  a  race ;  and  a  reading  of  Francis  Parkman's 
The  California  and  Oregon  Trail,  with  his  careful  por 
trayal  of  the  daily  life  of  the  Indians  among  whom  he 
lived  for  months,  shows  that  in  1846  the  buffalo  already 
was  disappearing  from  the  Western  plains  and  that  with 
the  disappearance  of  the  buffalo  the  Indian  must  become 
a  farmer  or  else  that  the  race  was  doomed.  His  picture 
of  the  degrading  habits  of  the  Indians  was  more  than 
confirmed  by  the  observations  of  other  travelers  living  in 
the  regions  farther  west.  But  while  Parkman's  depressing 
picture  was  a  true  characterization  of  the  majority  of  the 
Indians,  nevertheless  missionaries,  hunters,  and  trappers 
found  many  exceptions  to  the  rule.  An  illustration  of  the 
splendid  natural  qualities  of  the  Indian  is  found  in  Saca- 
jawea,  the  Indian  wife  of  Toussaint  Chaboneau,  who 
served  as  guide  to  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  during 
the  most  dangerous  part  of  their  journey.  A  yet  stronger 
illustration  is  found  in  the  Indian  wife  of  Paul  Dorion. 
Wilson  P.  Hunt  had  charge  of  John  Jacob  Astor's  first 
party  of  American  fur  traders.  Just  below  the  point  where 
the  Boise  enters  the  Snake  River?  Hunt  built  a  trading 
post  on  an  island  in  the  Snake  River  and  left  it  in  charge 
of  Paul  Doripn.  Soon  after  Hunt  and  the  fur  traders 
left  this  little  post  it  was  attacked  by  Indians  and  every 
man  killed  save  one  white  man,  and  he  was  severely 
wounded;  only  Dorion's  Indian  wife,  now  a  widow,  and 
'her  two  children  were  left  unhurt.  After  the  attacking 

28 

2 


THE  INDIANS    SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

party  withdrew  Madame  Dorion  placed  the  wounded  white 
man  on  a  horse  and  she  mounted  another  horse  with  her 
two  children,  and  they  succeeded  in  escaping  from  the 
little  island  and  hiding  in  the  woods.  The  man  died  that 
night,  and  the  next  morning  the  Indian  woman  dug  the 
best  grave  she  could  with  her  knife  and  gave  the  body 
honorable  burial.  She  then  traveled  west  as  rapidly  as 
possible  with  one  child  before  her  and  the  other  child 
behind  her  on  one  horse,  while  she  led  another  horse  with 
a  bark  rope.  She  was  compelled,  in  order  to  escape  the 
vigilance  of  the  Indians,  to  avoid  the  trails,  and  travel  on 
such  lines  as  her  Indian  instinct  enabled  her  to  find  until 
she  reached  the  Grande  Ronde.  The  winter  was  coming 
on  and  already  the  snow  was  too  deep  for  further  travel. 
Accordingly,  she  selected  a  sheltered  spot,  killed  her  two 
horses,  skinned  them,  and  made  the  best  tent  possible 
with  the  two  hides  and  the  rushes  which  she  gathered 
from  the  marsh.  She  dried  the  meat  of  the  horses  and 
tried  to  keep  the  children  alive  during  the  winter.  One 
of  the  children  died,  but  she  bore  her  grief  like  a  stoic. 
In  the  spring  she  took  the  remaining  child,  Baptiste 
Dorion,  on  her  back,  and  traveled  on  foot  through  the 
snows  of  the  mountains  toward  the  Walla  Walla  region, 
and  from  there  on  to  Fort  Vancouver.  What  finer  ma 
terial  for  missionary  work  can  any  nation  or  race  furnish  ? 
Sacajawea,  the  Indian  woman  who  served  as  guide  to  the 
Lewis  and  Clark  expedition,  has  been  immortalized  in 
bronze.  Surely,  Madame  Dorion  deserves  an  equal  monu 
ment. 

But  the  highest  proof  of  the  power  of  Christianity 
among  the  Indians  was  the  lasting  character  of  some  of 
the  conversions.  It  is  true  that  most  of  the  Indians  back- 

29 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

slid,  but  many  reversions  to  the  original  type  characterize 
every  great  religious  revival  among  all  races  of  men.  In 
deed,  Matthew  Arnold  finds  the  key  to  Isaiah's  writings, 
the  key  to  the  history  of  Israel  in  general,  and  the  key 
to  the  history  of  the  human  race,  in  the  doctrine  of  "The 
Remnant."  Isaiah's  hope  is  based  on  the  conviction  that 
a  remnant  shall  be  saved  and  this  was  the  only  hope  of 
all  the  Jewish  reformers  after  the  ten  tribes  abandoned 
the  religion  of  Jehovah  and  the  other  two  tribes  were 
honeycombed  by  pagan  practices.  Certainly,  a  remnant 
among  the  Indian  converts  remained  true  to  God.  Dr. 
Hines,  in  his  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest, 
records  meeting,  about  1868,  a  score  of  Indians,  converted 
in  the  great  revivals  of  1839-40,  who  were  still  leading 
consistent  Christian  lives.  He  even  mentions  meeting 
Indians  in  1898,  fifty-seven  years  after  the  revival  of 
1841,  who  still  "held  the  beginnings  of  their  confidence 
steadfast  unto  the  end."13  Mrs.  Eliza  Spalding  Warren, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding,  presents  a  summary, 
whose  origin  she  cannot  trace,  but  which  she  thinks  is 
substantially  correct,  of  the  achievements  of  the  American 
Board  missions  from  the  founding  of  the  missions  down 
to  the  Whitman  massacre  eleven  years  later.  "The  cows 
brought  by  the  missionaries  had  multiplied  into  numerous 
herds;  the  sheep  given  by  the  Sandwich  Islanders  had 
grown  into  flocks.14  In  the  school  which  Mrs.  Spalding 


13  Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  pp. 
165-169. 

14  At  the  time  of  the  massacre  Whitman  had  at  Waiilatpu, 
not  counting  the  other  stations,   about  one  hundred  horses, 
two  hundred  cattle,  and  two  hundred  sheep  (Bancroft,  History 
of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  739,  note). 

30 


THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

taught  there  had  been  five  hundred  pupils.  A  church  of 
one  hundred  members  had  been  gathered.  The  language 
had  been  reduced  to  writing.  A  patriarchal  government 
had  been  established.  They  had  adopted  a  code  of  laws. 
The  Sabbath  was  observed."15  The  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding 
returned  to  Idaho  in  1862,  fifteen  years  after  the  Whitman 
massacre,  and  found  still  faithful  to  Christ  some  Indians 
who  had  been  converted  during  his  early  ministry.  Mr. 
Spalding  supported  himself  by  farming,  but  did  consider 
able  mission  work  among  the  Indians.  In  1871  he  was 
again  appointed  a  missionary  to  the  Nez  Perce  Indians — 
this  time  by  the  Presbyterian  Board;  and  he  died  among 
his  spiritual  children  August  3,  1874.  During  the  last 
three  years  of  his  life  he  baptized  over  nine  hundred  In 
dians.16  Indeed,  the  original  Indian  church  which  Mr. 
Spalding  organized  in  1838  still  exists  in  the  Lapwai 
Indian  Presbyterian  Church,  with  a  full-blood  Indian  as 
pastor  and  more  than  one  hundred  steadfast  Indian  mem 
bers.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  God  deals  with  the  human 
race  as  individuals  even  more  than  as  families  or  nations 
or  races. 

Probably  the  accounts  of  the  revivals  and  of  the  early 
successes  of  the  Protestant  missions  among  the  Indians 
were  too  highly  colored,  and  the  missionaries  slowly  dis 
covered  that  they  were  dealing  with  a  diseased  and  de 
graded  race.  But,  despite  the  condition  of  the  race,  or, 
rather,  because  of  their  critical  condition,  because  of  the 
rapid  disappearance  of  the  buffalo  and  the  necessity  of 
the  Indians  speedily  learning  farming  to  avoid  perishing 
from  the  earth,  there  were  all  the  more  reasons  for  the 

"Warren,  Memoirs  of  the  West,  p.  11. 
"Ibid.,  p.  34. 

31 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

unceasing  prosecution  of  mission  work  among  them.  The 
results,  as  seen  at  the  close  of  three  generations,  demon 
strate  that  there  were  many  individual  cases  of  superior 
character  still  existing  among  the  Indians,  and  that  the 
gospel  among  the  Indians,  as  among  all  other  peoples,  is 
able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost  all  who  come  unto  God 
through  Christ.  Jason  Lee,  Gustavus  Hines,  Cyrus  Shep- 
ard,  Gushing  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  and  H.  H.  Spalding 
were  right  in  maintaining  down  to  the  end  of  their  lives 
their  unabated  faith  that  many  Indians  would  accept 
Christ  and  that  he  would  prove  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  unto  all  who  believed.  Despite  the  sad  lack  of 
faith  which  characterized  the  Methodist  bishop  who 
ordered  Lee's  retirement  and  the  lack  of  faith  upon  the 
part  of  the  secretaries  of  the  American  Board  and  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  hastily  closing  these  missions,  despite  the  Indian  wars 
in  the  Oregon  Country  which  suspended  missionary  work 
for  years,  despite  the  slowness  of  Protestant  Christianity 
in  resuming  its  Indian  work,  and  the  low  standard  of 
civilization  demanded  by  the  Eoman  Catholic  missionaries 
among  their  wards,  there  has  survived  a  remnant  of  the 
Indian  race  which  will  yet  prove  an  honor  to  our  country 
and  to  Christianity.  The  remnant  would  have  been  much 
larger  had  not  the  faith  of  the.  churches  failed.  It  is 
worse  than  idle,  it  is  false  and  misleading  to  speak  of  an 
entire  race  as  decadent,  then  use  that  phrase  to  excuse 
our  failure  to  evangelize  that  race.  Christ's  command  is, 
"Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations." 
Every  person  is  degraded  and  decadent  without  the 
inner  Christ.  No  case  is  hopeless  which  looks  to  Christ 
for  help.  Some  souls  are  more  deeply  steeped  in  sin  and 

32 


THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

less  willing  to  accept  Christ  than  other  souls ;  and  a  larger 
proportion  of  hardened  souls  may  be  found  in  some 
families,  cities,  nations,  races^  than  in  others.  The  latest 
teachings  of  evolution,  according  to  Weismann,  of  Ger 
many,  and  Professor  E.  C.  Conklin,  of  America,  are  that 
acquired  habits,  good  or  evil,  are  not  transmitted.  In 
any  case,  salvation  is  the  gift  of  God  through  grace  by 
faith,  and  multitudes  more  of  the  Indians  would  have 
experienced  it  had  the  churches  not  lost  faith  and  aban 
doned  obedience.  As  it  is,  an  impartial  review  of  the 
history  reveals  the  fact  that  not  the  American  people  or 
the  churches  of  any  or  all  faiths,  but  the  Indians  them 
selves  were  the  primary  occasion  of  the  Oregon  Missions. 

Another  fact  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  estimating  the 
indirect  service  of  the  Indians  to  missions;  their  needs 
in  the  Wyandot  Mission  at  Upper  Sandusky,  Ohio,  in 
1816-19,  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  later  developed 
into  the  Board  of  Home  and  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis 
sions.  The  article  in  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions  on 
the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
opens  as  follows : 

"The  conversion  of  a  colored  man  by  the  name  of 
Stewart,  and  his  subsequent  work  among  the  Indians, 
profoundly  stirred  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and 
was  the  first  impulse  for  the  formation  of  the  Missionary 
Society  for  the  whole  church."17  Under  the  Divine  Provi 
dence  an  ignorant  and  degraded  mulatto,  John  Stewart, 
called  into  being  the  society  which  to-day  in  every  State 
in  the  Union,  in  Alaska,  Porto  Rico,  Hawaii,  the  Philip- 

11  The  Encyclopaedia  of  Missions,  2d  ed.,  1904,  art,  "Meth 
odist  Episcopal  Church  Missions." 

33 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

pines,  and  in  thirty-four  nations  is  helping  make  good 
the  divine  declaration  that  God  made  of  one  blood  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  three 
of  the  best-known  men  who  ever  worked  for  the  salva 
tion  of  the  Indians — David  Brainerd,  Jonathan  Edwards, 
and  John  Wesley — all  passed  through  the  greatest  spiritual 
crisis  of  their  lives  in  1738.  These  men  were  far  removed 
from  each  other  and  without  knowledge  of  each  other's 
inner  struggles.  But  all  were  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  under  his  guidance  became  unconscious 
co workers  in  the  kingdom  of  grace  and  glory.  One  hun 
dred  years  later — 1838 — are  Whitman,  Spalding,  and  Lee, 
representing  the  same  three  churches:  worthy  successors 
of  this  apostolic  group  in  the  struggle  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Indians.  But  eighty  years  after  Wesley  and  twenty 
years  before  Lee,  we  find  a  providential  link  in  the  mulatto, 
John  Stewart,  whose  heroic  sacrifice  for  a  dying  race  called 
forth  the  two  great  missionary  societies  of  Methodism. 

October  11-12,  1916,  there  was  celebrated  at  Upper 
Sandusky,  Ohio,  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  John 
Stewart's  mission  to  the  Wyandots.  Not  in  honor  of 
James  B.  Finley,  in  whose  veins  ran  the  best  blood  of  the 
white  race  and  whose  scholastic  training  harked  back  to 
Princeton  University;  not  in  honor  of  Charles  Elliott, 
panoplied  with  the  best  scholastic  training  of  Europe ;  but 
in  honor  of  the  Indian- White-Negro,  John  Stewart,  devoid 
of  learning  and  sodden  with  drink  and  resolved  on  suicide, 
led,  almost  constrained,  by  the  Holy  Spirit  into  a  Meth 
odist  prayer  meeting,  converted  by  the  grace  of  God,  trans 
formed  into  a  missionary  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  called 
by  the  voice  of  God  to  serve  the  Indian  race,  was  this 
celebration  held.  Governor  Willis,  Bishops  Anderson, 

34 


THE  INDIANS'  SEARCH  FOR  GOD 

Edwin  H.  Hughes,  and  Herbert  Welch;  Professor  R.  T. 
Stevenson,  who  has  recovered  for  posterity  this  heroic 
chapter  in  the  history  of  our  church  ;18  Dr.  F.  M.  Thomas 
for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South;  I.  Garland 
Penn  for  the  Negro  race;  Mrs.  Bishop  Thirkield  for  the 
women;  Dr.  A.  C.  Kynett,  descendant  of  one  of  the  mis 
sionaries  to  the  Indians,  and  representing  the  Board  of 
Home  Missions  and  Church  Extension,  distinguished 
visitors  from  Ohio  and  other  States,  gathered  to  honor 
the  memory  of  this  humble  man.  The  monument  is  built 
with  stones  taken  from  Tymochtee  Creek  near  by,  and 
on  the  plate  is  a  title  which  no  man  in  Methodism  can 
even  claim  to  share  with  this  man  of  mongrel  blood,  chosen 
by  God  as  the  visible  sign  of  our  divine  call  to  serve  all 
the  races  of  mankind : 

JOHN  STEWART, 

APOSTLE  TO  THE  WYANDOTT  INDIANS 

FATHER   or   MISSIONS   or   THE   METHODIST    EPISCOPAL 

CHURCH. 


18 1  am  indebted  for  this  paragraph  largely  to  Professor 
R.  T.  Stevenson's  Introduction  to  the  History  of  the  Wyandott 
Mission  of  Upper  Sandusky,  Ohio. 


35 


CHAPTER  II 
JASON  LEE 

"THE  early  history  of  the  Methodist  Church  [in  Oregon] 
is  the  history  of  the  first  American  colonization  [in  that 
State]/'  Bancroft.1 

The  Indians  who  visited  Saint  Louis  in  search  of  God, 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  the 
British  government,  the  Oregon  pioneers,  and  the  mission 
aries  of  the  American  Board,  all  contributed  to  the  settle 
ment  of  the  Oregon  problem.  But  neither  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  the  British  government,  nor  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  alone  established  civilization 
in  that  land.  The  early  settlers  would  have  established 
civilization  in  due  time,  as  other  leaders  aside  from  the 
Puritans  in  due  time  would  have  introduced  civilization 
into  New  England.  But  the  decisive  factors  in  introduc 
ing  Christian  civilization  into  Oregon,  and  one  of  the 
most  influential  factors  in  settling  the  whole  Oregon  prob 
lem  when  it  was  settled  and  as  it  was  settled,  were  the 
Oregon  Missions,  embracing  the  work  of  the  American 
and  Methodist  Boards.  The  significance  of  the  work  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Board  is  recognized  by  the  quota 
tion  made  above  from  the  great  historian  of  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Again  Bancroft  writes:  "The  Methodists  have 
been  foremost  in  propagating  their  principles  by  means 
of  schools,  as  the  history  of  Willamette  University  illus- 

1  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  677. 

36 


JASON  LEE 

trates.  In  new  communities  these  means  seem  to  be  neces 
sary  to  give  coherence  to  effort."2  Unquestionably  the 
American  Board  contributed  much  to  the  introduction  of 
Christian  civilization  into  the  Oregon  Country.  Again, 
the  United  States  government  without  the  aid  of  any 
church  was  able  to  take  possession  of  the  Columbia  River 
basin,  and  unquestionably  it  was  the  United  States  govern 
ment  and  no  church  which  in  the  end  did  take  possession 
of  the  country.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  no  boundary 
line  south  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude  would 
in  the  end  have  been  acceptable  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  But  it  was  largely  due  to  Jason  Lee,  to  the  infor 
mation  he  furnished,  to  the  newspapers  whose  support  he 
enlisted,  to  the  plans  of  emigration  which  he  proposed, 
to  the  land  bills  which  he  suggested,  to  the  tide  of  emigra 
tion  to  the  Pacific  Coast  which  he  started,  to  the  petitions 
to  Congress  which  he  originated,  to  the  influence  which 
he  exercised  directly  upon  the  Missionary  Society,  and 
indirectly  in  the  halls  of  Congress  and  upon  at  least 
two  administrations,  that  the  United  States  government 
secured  Puget  Sound  territory.  He  is  the  young  man  to 
whom  President  Fisk  referred  in  Chapter  I.  He  had 
been  a  student  under  Fisk  at  Wilbraham  Academy  in 
1828 ;  he  was  teaching  in  Stanstead,  and  awaiting  a  sum 
mons  to  missionary  work  among  the  Indians  when  Fisk 
issued  his  trumpet  call  in  1833. 

Jason  Lee  was  born  June  27,  1803,  at  Stanstead,  which 
is  now  within  the  bounds  of  Canada.  He  was  of  American 
blood  and  of  Revolutionary  stock.  John  Lee,  the 
ancestor  of  Jason  Lee,  came  to  America  at  the  age  of 


2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  678. 

37 


THE  OEEGON  MISSIONS 

thirteen  with  the  family  of  William  Westwood.  The 
Westwood  family,  including  John  Lee,  was  among  the 
first  fifty-four  settlers  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  In 
1635  the  Westwoods  and  Lee,  with  others,  under  the 
leadership  of  Thomas  Hunter,  became  the  founders  of 
Hartford,  Connecticut.  Soon  after  John  Lee  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  he  joined  eighty-four  others  in  the  pur 
chase  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  square  miles  of  land 
of  the  Indians  in  the  Connecticut  Valley.  This  land  is 
now  occupied  by  Farmington,  Southington,  Bristol,  Bur 
lington,  New  Britain,  Berlin,  and  Kensington.  The  old 
chart  is  still  in  existence  which  shows  the  boundaries  of 
John  Lee's  land.  The  descendants  of  John  Lee  served 
the  country  in  several  Indian  wars,  and  seventeen  of  them 
participated  in  the  struggle  for  American  independence. 
Colonel  Noah  Lee  raised  a  regiment  of  Green  Mountain 
boys  and  fought  in  important  battles.  Another  descend 
ant,  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  General  Washington's  trusted 
officer,  became  the  martyr  spy.  The  Eev.  Edward  Everett 
Hale,  the  Eev.  William  Allen  Lee,,  at  one  time  president 
of  Dartmouth  and  later  of  Bowdoin  College;  General 
Kirby  Smith,  of  the  Confederate  Army;  the  Hon.  Thad- 
deus  Stevens,  of  Congressional  fame;  the  Eev.  Louis  0. 
Lee,  president  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Marash, 
Turkey,  under  the  American  Board;  and  Justice  William 
Strong,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  are 
among  the  descendants  of  John  Lee.  Jason  Lee  was 
descended  from  John  Lee  through  David  Lee,  born  in 
Farmington  in  1674;  Jedediah  Lee,  born  in  Northampton 
in  1697;  Elias  Lee,  born  in  Northampton  in  1723;  and 
Daniel  Lee,  born  in  Willington,  Connecticut,  in  1753. 
Daniel  Lee,  Jason  Lee's  father,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Eevolu- 

38 


JASON  LEE 

tionary  Army,  fought  at  the  battles  of  Lexington,  White 
Plains,  and  Long  Island,  and  was  a  pensioner  under  the 
act  of  1818.  He  was  one  of  a  large  number  of  emigrants 
who  went  from  the  Connecticut  Valley  to  New  Hampshire 
and  to  northern  Vermont,  where  he  settled  in  1797  on 
land  which  was  supposed  to  be  within  the  United  States. 
Here  Jason  Lee  was  born.  Down  until  the  Ashburton 
treaty  of  1842  this  land  was  a  part  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  Lee  family  paid  taxes  to  the  United  States.  When 
the  line  was  finally  run  in  1843  it  crossed  the  Lee  farm, 
and  Daniel  Lee's  house  was  left  a  stone's  throw  north  of 
the  line.3 

Jason  Lee  was  six  feet,  three  inches  tall,  one  inch  below 
the  height  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  powerfully  built,  stoop- 
shouldered,  rather  awkward  and  slow  in  movement.  The 
pictures  of  Lee  resemble  in  a  rather  striking  manner 
those  of  ex-Justice  Hughes  in  head  and  beard  and  firm 
set  jaws,  though  Lee's  hair  was  light  and  the  general  ex 
pression  of  his  face  was  not  so  severe  as  that  of  Mr. 
Hughes.  Bancroft  describes  him  as  of  "light  complexion, 
thin  lips  closely  shut,  prominent  nose,  and  rather  massive 
jaws;  eyes  of  superlative  spiritualistic  blue,  high,  retreat 
ing  forehead,  carrying  mind  within;  somewhat  long  hair, 
pushed  back,  and  giving  to  the  not  too  stern  but  positively 
marked  features  a  slightly  Puritanical  aspect;  and  withal, 
a  stomach  like  that  of  an  ostrich,  which  would  digest  any 
thing.  .  .  .  Though  not  devoid  of  worldly  ambition,  he 
was  sincere  and  sound  to  the  core.  Strong  in  his  posses 
sion  of  himself,  there  was  nothing  intrusive  in  his  nature. 
Though  talking  was  a  part  of  his  profession,  his  skill  was 


'Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  pp.  206,  207. 

39 


THE  OKEGON  MISSION'S 

exhibited  as  much  in  what  he  left  unsaid  as  in  his  most 
studied  utterances.  Frank  and  affable  in  his  intercourse 
with  men,  he  inspired  confidence  in  those  with  whom  he 
had  dealings  and  was  a  general  favorite/'4 

President  Fisk  wrote  to  Jason  Lee  telling  him  of  the 
Indian  cry  for  light,  and  the  young  teacher  accepted  as 
providential  the  call  to  become  a  missionary  to  the  Oregon 
Indians,  was  admitted  to  the  New  England  Conference 
and  ordained.  After  his  selection  Lee  was  kept  in  the 
Eastern  States  nearly  a  year  waiting  for  an  emigrant  train 
to  the  West,  in  the  meantime  addressing  churches  and 
securing  money  to  finance  the  enterprise.  During  the 
year  Bishop  Emory  opened  the  way  for  him,  and  he  visited 
Washington  and  secured  the  indorsement  of  President 
Jackson  and  the  secretaries  of  state  and  war,  to  found  a 
mission  in  the  Oregon  Country,  then  under  the  joint 
occupation  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  This 
meeting  gave  him  access  to  the  heads  of  the  United  States 
government  throughout  his  missionary  career.  In  the 
meantime  Jason  Lee  selected  his  nephew,  Daniel  Lee,  a 
minister  in  the  New  England  Conference,  and  Cyrus 
Shepard,  a  teacher,  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  to  accompany 
him.  These  three  men,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Meth 
odist  Episcopal  Church,  joined  Captain  N.  J.  Wyeth,  of 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  who  was  going  west  to  found 
a  fur  company,  and  they  started  from  Saint  Louis  on  their 
long  journey  April  28,  1834,  although  Jason  Lee  had 
bidden  his  friends  farewell  and  left  home  three  and  a  half 
months  earlier.  Philip  L.  Edwards  and  Courtney  M. 
Walker,  of  Eichmond,  Missouri,  were  also  engaged  as 


4  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  57. 

40 


JASON  LEE 

teachers,  and  joined  the  caravan  when  it  passed  through 
Independence,  Missouri.  Walker  agreed  to  teach  for  one 
year,  and  after  his  term  expired  he  entered  the  service 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

The  mission  group  crossed  the  plains  with  a  company 
of  some  seventy  men,  largely  hunters  and  fur  traders, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  horses,  and  some  cattle  taken  by 
the  missionaries.  One  night  when  the  horses  were  stam 
peded  and  every  one  expected  the  Indian  warwhoop  to 
sound,  Jason  Lee  led  a  few  of  the  bravest  men  in  recaptur 
ing  the  animals;  and  from  that  hour  no  man  doubted 
the  courage  any  more  than  he  had  previously  doubted  the 
piety  of  the  Methodist  preacher.  "Looks  as  though  he 
were  well  calculated  to  buffet  difficulties  in  a  wild  coun 
try,"  wrote  Townsend,  one  of  his  fellow  travelers.5 

Bancroft  says  of  Lee's  fellow  laborers,  Daniel  Lee, 
Cyrus  Shepard,  Courtney  M.  Walker,  and  P.  L.  Edwards: 
"Nor  were  his  associates  broad-collared,  long-haired,  Puri 
tanical  prayer-mongers,  but  wide-awake,  hearty,  and 
sympathetic  men,  bent  on  saving  souls  and  having  a  good 
time."6 

On  June  15,  1834,  the  travelers  reached  the  summit  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  soon  after  passing  which  the  mis 
sionaries  changed  to  a  company  under  the  leadership  of 
Captain  Thomas  McKay,  an  American  hunter  and  trapper, 
because  Captain  Wyeth  and  his  men  planned  to  stop  and 
erect  a  fort,  which  Wyeth  named  Fort  Hall,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Oregon  and  Missouri  with  the  Canadian  and  Utah 
trails.  When  the  Indians  from  the  Columbia  River  region, 


6  Townsend's  Narrative,  p.  24.    Quoted  by  Bancroft,  History 
of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  61,  note. 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  1,  p.  61. 

41 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

who  were  with  Captain  McKay,  learned  that  Lee  was 
journeying  to  the  Oregon  Country  to  teach  the  Indians 
a  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  how  to  worship  him, 
they  expressed  great  joy,  and  presented  him  with  two 
horses.  Jason  Lee  secured  permission  to  preach  to  Captain 
McKay's  men,  as  he  had  done  to  Captain  Wyeth's,  and 
preached  the  first  Protestant  sermon  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  July  27,  1834,  at  the  point  where  Captain 
Wyeth  built  Fort  Hall.  The  need  of  religion  and  the 
slight  impression  of  the  sermon  alike  are  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  company  adjourned  from  the  service  to  a 
horse  race,  in  which  one  of  the  men  was  thrown  from  his 
horse  and  killed ;  and  Jason  Lee  conducted  the  first  Ameri 
can  Protestant  funeral  service  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains  on  the  next  day.  Captain  McKay's  company  reached 
Fort  Vancouver,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia  River 
and  six  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Multnomah  or  Wil 
lamette,  September  16,  1834.7  Here  Jason  Lee  preached 
the  first  Protestant  sermon  on  the  Pacific  Coast  September 
28,  1834.  December  14  Lee  baptized  the  first  ingathering 
of  his  mission,  consisting,  not  of  full-blood  Indians,  but 
of  four  adult  members  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
and  seventeen  half-breed  children.  This  was  the  first 
ingathering  of  Protestant  converts  on  the  Pacific  shore. 

Meanwhile  what  had  become  of  the  remaining  Nez 
Perces,  and  where  was  the  tribe  which  was  seeking  light? 
After  leaving  Saint  Louis  for  the  West  in  1833,  the  two 
Nez  Perces  fell  in  with  George  Catlin,  the  famous  painter 
of  Indians.  But,  with  Indian  stoicism  and  reserve,  they 
did  not  mention  the  object  of  their  visit.  Indeed,  Catlin 

T  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  63. 

42 


JASON  LEE 

on  his  return  East  denied  the  whole  Saint  Louis  story 
until  he  wrote  General  Clark  and  learned  that  the  Indians 
came  for  the  Bible  and  that  he  gave  them  Christian  in 
struction,  but  did  not  give  them  the  Book.  It  will  interest 
readers  and  add  to  the  romance  to  know  that  Catlin,  with 
out  knowing  that  these  Indians  were  to  become  historic, 
enriched  his  gallery  with  their  portraits,  which  are  num 
bered  207  and  208  in  his  collection  in  the  Capitol  at 
Washington,  D.  C.  After  parting  from  Catlin  one  of  the 
two  Indians  died,  and  only  one  of  the  four  reached  the 
tribe,  and  he  only  to  announce  that  the  white  men  would 
not  give  the  Indians  the  Book  of  Heaven.  Worse  still, 
Jason  Lee  on  the  trip  out  learned  that  the  Flathead 
Indians  were  engaged  in  constant  and  bitter  warfare  with 
the  Blackfeet  Indians,  and  that  they  had  been  nearly 
annihilated,  that  they  had  been  driven  back  into  almost 
inaccessible  mountains  some  two  hundred  miles  north  of 
his  route,  and  some  six  hundred  miles  east  of  the  Pacific 
Coast.  But  the  clothing,  books,  and  the  farming  utensils, 
garden  seeds,  and  seed  grain  with  which  Lee  was  to  intro 
duce  Christian  civilization  had  been  shipped  on  the  May 
Dacre  around  Cape  Horn  to  Fort  Vancouver;  and  the 
missionaries  must  go  on  to  Fort  Vancouver  for  their  goods, 
then  induce  the  Coast  Indians,  if  possible,  to  carry  their 
goods  and  farming  utensils  in  boats  some  five  hundred 
miles  east,  and  then  on  horses  or  on  their  backs  northeast 
into  the  almost  inaccessible  mountains  of  Montana.  The 
task  was  well-nigh  impossible,  and  the  Methodists  with 
heavy  hearts  journeyed  down  the  Pacific  slope  to  Fort 
Vancouver  away  from  the  special  field  of  service  to  which 
they  supposed  God  had  called  them.  The  romance  of  the 
movement  was  beginning  to  fade  away,  and  the  whole 

43 


THE  OBE00N  MISSIONS 

affair  seemed  a  miserable  Methodist  fiasco  in  which  zeal 
had  outrun  knowledge.  Did  you  ever  think  that  the  Bible 
says  nothing  of  Paul  on  crossing  into  Macedonia  finding 
the  identical  man  who  appeared  to  him  in  the  vision? 
But  Paul  found  Macedonian  heathen  and  concluded  that 
he  had  a  mission.  So  Jason  Lee  found  pagan  Indians  in 
abundance  in  the  Willamette  Valley,  including  numerous 
Nez  Perces,  which  tribe  furnished  three  of  the  four  In 
dians  who  made  the  journey  to  Saint  Louis  and  to  whom, 
as  well  as  to  the  Flatheads,  he  had  been  sent.  He  also 
found  Chinooks  and  other  Coast  Indians  with  flattened 
heads,  thus  possessing  the  very  sign  by  which  he  expected 
to  recognize  the  Indians  to  whom  he  was  called.8  He 
also  found  members  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  who 
had  not  heard  the  gospel  preached  for  years,  and  he  was 
thus  enabled  to  become  a  jfoissionary  to  the  white  race  as 
well  as  to  the  Indianj,g!rSo,  feeling  that  he  was  sent  of 
God  and  that  he  wj^in  touch  with  the  larger  portion  of 
those  who  had  sufmmoned  him,  he  decided  to  stay;  and 
the  four  missionaries  began  work  among  the  Indians  in 
the  Columbia  River  basin  in  October,  1834. 

Let  us  leave  the  Methodists  founding  their  work  among 
the  Indians  while  we  devote  several  chapters  to  the  other 
actors  in  the  drama.  We  believe  that  the  study  of  all  the 
factors  in  the  problem  will  show  that  God  was  in  the 
movement,  that  he  aimed  at  and  accomplished,  largely 
through  the  missionaries,  a  far  greater  work  than  they 
had  dreamed  of. 

8  Irving,  Astoria,  p.  67. 


44 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY  AND  GREAT 
BRITAIN 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  was  organized  in  London  in  1670  for  trading  pur 
poses;  but,  like  the  famous  East  India  Company  and  like 
the  British  North  Borneo  Company  of  to-day,  it  was, 
authorized  to  exercise  military  and  civil  authority,  and 
even  to  make  wars  and  to  conclude  peace  in  the  name  of 
Great  Britain,  over  the  territory  which  it  occupied.  \  The 
charter  granted  the  company  "complete  lordship  and 
entire  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  power."1  Great 
Britain,  in  the  Nootka  Sound  Convention  of  1790,  had 
compelled  Spain  to  grant  her  equal  rights  in  the  Pacific 
Northwest;  and  on  Spain's  virtual  abandonment  of  the 
country  a  little  later  Great  Britain,  through  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  exercised  control  over  the  Northwest  coast 
from  the  Russian  possessions  down  to  the  Mexican  posses 
sions  from  1790  to  1818.  In  1821  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  the  North- West  Fur  Company  of  Montreal 
were  consolidated  by  an  act  of  the  British  Parliament; 
and  Parliament  granted  the  enlarged  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  dominion  and  exclusive  rights  to  the  trade  for  the 
"Indian  Territories,"  expressly  declaring  that  these  terri 
tories  included  all  the  wilderness  of  British  North  America 


Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  vol.  xiii,  p.  853a. 
45 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

west  of  and  including  Rupert's  land.  Thus  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  "ruled  the  western  world  through  seventy- 
five  degrees  of  longitude,  from  Davis  Strait  to  Mount  Saint 
Elias,  and  through  twenty-eight  degrees  of  latitude,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  to  the  borders  of  California, 
dominions  second  in  size  to  Russia  alone  among  the  com 
pact  organizations  of  the  world."2  "|  It  is  true  that  under 
an  act  of  the  British  Parliament  in  1821,  the  authority 
of  the  Canadian  government  was  extended  over  all  British 
subjects  throughout  this  territory.3  But  even  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin  seldom  sent  a  man  to  the  Canadian  courts  for 
trial  and  punishment.  He  ordered  an  Indian  tied  to  the 
cannon  at  Fort  Vancouver  and  whipped;  and  a  Canadian 
committing  the  same  offense  was  punished  in  the  same 
manner.4  Other  agents  of  the  company  disregarded  the 
law  more  fully  than  did  Dr.  McLoughlin.  An  Indian  was 
reported  to  James  Douglas,  whom  McLoughlin  trained 
as  his  successor,  as  having  committed  murder.  Douglas 
shot  the  Indian  without  trial  as  he  lay  concealed  under  a 
bundle  of  skins.5  The  murder  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  son 
John  by  a  Canadian  while  the  young  man  was  in  charge 
of  Fort  Stikeen  possibly  shows  that  the  young  ruler  abused 
his  power.6 

The  restoration  of  Astoria  to  American  authority  and 
the  treaty  of  1818  containing  the  clause  providing  for 
joint  occupancy  followed  the  war  of  1812,  and  confirmed 

2  Chambers's  Encyclopaedia,  Philadelphia,  1884,  vol.  v,  p.  448. 

3  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  235,  236,  and  581. 
*  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  378. 

5  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  368,  369. 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  236,  note. 

46 


THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 

the  legal  right  of  the  United  States  to  the  control  of  all 
American  citizens  and  subjects  in  the  Oregon  Country. 

Bancroft  says:  "It  was  not  true  that  the  British  com 
pany  controlled  by  law  the  Eussian  possessions  in  America, 
or  strove  to  govern  the  American  settlers  in  the  Willamette 
Valley.  By  an  act  of  Parliament  the  laws  of  Canada  were 
extended  over  British  subjects  in  the  territory  west  of 
the  Eocky  Mountains,  but  this  was  never  enforced  so  far 
as  Eussians  and  Americans  were  concerned."7  This  state 
ment  is  carefully  guarded,  and  in  its  guarded  form,  it  is 
in  the  main  correct ;  but  three  facts  must  be  borne  in  mind 
for  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  which  emerged 
between  the  American  and  British  settlers. 

First.  In  Canada  the  Company  built  throughout  her 
wide  domain  forts,  trading  posts,  and  factories,  from 
which  she  exercised  military  and  civil  authority  over  both 
the  Indians  and  the  whites.  After  crossing  the  Eocky 
Mountains  she  extended  her  forts  south  of  the  49th  parallel 
into  the  Oregon  Country.  She  erected  Fort  Vancouver 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia  in  1824-25,  and  Fort 
Boise  in  what  is  now  Idaho  in  1834.  Through  Fort  Boise 
she  deprived  Captain  Wyeth  of  all  the  trade  with  the 
Indians  at  Fort  Hall,  and  practically  drove  him  from  the 
field,  but  softened  and  hastened  his  departure  by  buying 
his  fort  in  1836.  In  addition  to  these  three  forts,  she 
erected  Forts  Disappointment,  George,  Okanogan,  Koo- 
tenai,  Flat  Head,  Cowlitz,  Nisqually,  Colville,  Walla 
Walla,  and  Umpqua.  Through  these  thirteen  forts,8  or 
fortified  trading  posts,  all  of  them  south  of  49°,  and  some 


7  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  235,  236. 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  109. 

47 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

of  them  four  hundred  miles  south  of  that  parallel,  she 
ruled  as  far  south  as  the  then  northern  border  of  Mexico, 
not  only  her  employees,  but  the  Indians  occupying  the  two 
countries;  and  she  continued  this  rule  from  1821  down 
to  the  appointment  of  Dr.  White  in  1842  and  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  provisional  government  in  1843. 

Second.  Although  joint  occupancy  by  the  subjects  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  was 
provided  for  by  the  treaty  of  1818,  nevertheless  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  through  the  failure  of  Congress  to 
provide  for  them  a  government,  entered  that  country  as 
isolated  trappers  and  hunters,  without  either  financial  or 
governmental  backing,  and  thus  were  led,  though  reluc 
tantly,  to  depend  upon  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for 
the  maintenance  of  law  and -order.  Occasionally,  indeed, 
as  in  ordering  Ewing  Young  not  to  distill  and  sell  liquor, 
and  in  tearing  down  the  log  house  of  Alderman  and 
Williamson  and  in  threatening  to  send  Williamson  to 
York  Factory  for  trial  before  a  British  justice,  the  Com 
pany  attempted  to  impose  British  authority  upon  the 
Americans.  In  the  first  of  these  three  cases  the  moral, 
though  not  the  legal,  right  was  clearly  on  its  side.  In 
the  second,  tearing  down  the  log  cabin  of  Alderman  and 
Williamson,  opinion  was  much  divided,  the  Executive  Com 
mittee  of  the  American  Provisional  Government  deciding 
in  favor  of  McLoughlin.  But  John  Minto  and  H.  S. 
Lyman,  both  of  them  intelligent  and  fair  men,  claim,  with 
good  reason,  that  Alderman  and  Williamson  had  a  better 
right  to  the  one  square  mile  of  land  which  they  claimed 
north  of  the  Columbia  River  than  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  had  to  the  thirty-five  miles  east  and  west,  which 
it  claimed  along  the  north  bank  of  the  Columbia  "as  far 

48 


THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 

back  as  their  stock  traveled."9  Moreover,  in  Williamson's 
case,  James  Douglas's  threat  to  arrest  an  American  citizen 
and  send  him  in  chains  to  York  Factory  for  trial  before 
a  British  justice  of  the  peace  was  full  of  danger. 

Third.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  method  of  deal 
ing  with  white  American  competitors  usually  was  not  by 
attempting  to  impose  British  law,  but  by  the  far  harsher, 
though  strictly  legal,  process  of  utterly  destroying  their 
trade  through  competition,  and  thus  driving  them  from 
the  country.  She  treated  all  American  visitors  with  rare 
hospitality,  but  she  exercised  her  legal  right  of  refusing 
to  trade  with  all  American  companies  and  of  refusing  to 
trade  with  all  Indians  who  ventured  to  trade  with  Ameri 
can  companies.  She  thus  drove,  one  after  another,  nine 
American  fur  companies  from  the  field. 

An  illustration  of  the  policy  of  the  North- West  Fur 
Company,  which  occupied  the  north  of  the  Columbia  River 
from  1814-21, 10  is  its  treatment  of  John  Jacob  Aster. 
In  1811  Mr.  Aster  had  sent  a  ship  around  Cape  Horn  and 
a  company  of  sixty  men  across  the  continent  to  found 
Astoria  some  twelve  miles  east  of  the  entrance  of  the 
Columbia  River.  On  February  15,  1812,  Wilson  P.  Hunt, 
and  a  few  companions,  out  of  the  sixty  men  who  started, 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  and 
founding  Astoria,  having  suffered  great  hardships  on  the 
way.  Mr.  Aster  had  taken  into  his  company  some  British 
subjects  from  Canada,  among  them  Duncan  McDougal, 
who  betrayed  him.  War  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  broke  out  in  1812.  The  North- West  Fur 
Company  sent  the  Isaac  Todd  around  the  Horn  with  a 

8Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ili,  p.  391,  note. 
10  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  292. 

49 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

letter  of  marque  to  capture  and  destroy  Astoria,  and  also 
J.  J.  McTavish  and  seventy-five  men  across  the  continent 
to  take  charge  of  the  stores  and  pelts  after  the  post  should 
be  captured  by  the  Isaac  Todd.  McTavish  arrived  October 
7,  1813,  before  the  ship;  all  his  provisions  and  ammuni 
tion  were  exhausted  and  he  was  thus  at  the  mercy  of 
Astor's  company.  Mr.  Hunt  had  gone  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands  and  Duncan  McDougal  was  in  charge  of  the  post. 
McDougal  was  one  of  Aster's  partners  and  the  one  whom 
Astor  had  intrusted  with  legal  authority  to  represent  him. 
So  far  from  resisting  McTavish's  claims  and  preserving 
the  property  of  Astor,  he  sold  the  post  and  all  its  stores 
to  the  North- West  Fur  Company  for  $80,500,11  although 
there  were  rumors  that  the  furs  were  worth  $1,000,000,12 
probably  altogether  too  high  an  estimate.  After  the  sale 
McDougal  was  taken  into  partnership  with  the  Company, 
the  Company  thus  revealing  her  participation  in  Mc- 
Dougal's  betrayal  of  Astor.  McDougal  was  regarded  by 
the  Americans  as  a  traitor,  by  the  British  as  a  cheat,  and 
by  the  Indian  Concomly  as  a  squaw.13  A  little  later  the 
British  armed  ship  Raccoon  arrived,  formally  captured 
Astoria,  raised  the  British  flag,  and  renamed  the  post  Fort 
George.  Mr.  Hunt  on  arriving  from  the  Sandwich  Islands 
on  February  15,  1814,  and  finding  all  the  goods  sold  and 
the  post  in  the  hands  of  Great  Britain,  took  ship  April  3, 
1814,  back  to  the  Islands  and  on  to  the  United  States. 
April  4,  1814;  all  the  Americans  who  had  belonged  to  the 

11  Bancroft,  History  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  vol.  ii,  p.  331. 

12  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  293. 

18  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  294.  But  it  should  be  added  that  Ban 
croft,  History  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  vol.  ii,  pp.  221-225, 
stoutly  defends  McDougal. 

50 


THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 

post  started  back  east  overland.  Fortunately,  this  formal 
capture  compelled  Great  Britain  under  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  to  restore  Fort  George  to  the  United  States 
and  the  name  was  changed  back  to  Astoria.  The  entire 
venture  proved  so  costly  and  unfortunate  that  Mr.  Astor 
made  no  further  attempts  to  trade  on  the  Columbia,  and 
the  post  practically  reverted  to  the  North- West  Fur  Com 
pany.  After  the  erection  of  Fort  Vancouver,  during  the 
winter  of  1824-25,  Astoria  became  a  small  trading  post. 
'  These  methods  of  banishing  American  competitors 
through  monopoly  of  trade  and  through  establishing  mili 
tary  and  civil  authority  over  her  own  white  people  and 
over  the  Indians  were  unchallenged  until  the  Methodist 
missionaries,  who  did  not  desire  to  buy  furs  or  sell  goods 
to  the  Indians,  settled  south  of  the  Columbia  in  1834, 
and  until  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  settled 
at  Lapwai,  Idaho,  and  at  Waiilatpu,  Washington,  in  1836, 
and  until  the  Methodists  began  preaching  north  of  the 
Columbia  in  1838  and  settled  there  in  1839.  Apparently, 
the  arrival  of  the  American  missionaries,  who  did  not 
come  for  trade,  was  entirely  unexpected.  Dr.  McLough- 
lin,  with  no  orders  from  his  superiors  in  London,  with  the 
innate  kindness  of  the  Christian  gentleman,  with  the 
loneliness  of  the  wilderness  upon  him,  and  with  his  par 
ental  interest  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  Canadian 
servants  and  of  his  Indian  wards,  welcomed  these  mis 
sionaries  and  showed  them  every  kindness.  There  was  no 
occasion  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  call  upon  the 
missionaries  to  obey  British  law,  for  their  conduct  was 
within  all  civil  law.  But  a  little  later  there  was  occasion 
at  times  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  exercise  au 
thority  for  the  protection  of  American  citizens  from  the 

51 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Indians,  and  such  authority  was  always  promptly  exer 
cised.  When  a  few  white  Americans  gathered  around  the 
missionary  post  for  safety,  the  question  of  sovereignty  be 
came  perplexing.  Dr.  McLoughlin  apparently  at  first 
suggested  that  Jason  Lee,  supported  by  himself,  should 
exercise  such  authority  as  was  necessary  over  American 
citizens,  as  he  exercised  authority  over  the  British  subjects 
and  the  Indians ;  and  Lee,  instead  of  taking  the  office  him 
self,  appointed  the  Rev.  David  Leslie  justice  of  the  peace 
to  represent  American  authority. 

It  was  a  condition  and  not  a  theory  which  confronted 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Her  officers  well  knew  that 
the  Columbia  River  Basin  could  not  remain  a  game  pre 
serve  and  at  the  same  time  become  an  American  settle 
ment.  Already  the  Company  had  been  driven  west  stage 
after  stage  by  the  advance  of  British  and  of  American 
civilization;  and  it  was  now  defending  its  last  intrench- 
ment  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  south  of  the  Russian  game  pre 
serves.  But  under  the  treaty  of  joint  occupation  the 
Company  had  no  right  whatever  to  exclude  American 
missionaries  from  this  region.  In  these  conditions  Dr. 
McLoughlin  and  the  chief  officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  in  the  Oregon  Country  pursued  the  only  honor 
able  and  the  only  wise  course.  A  struggle  against  these 
men  who  were  not  competitors  in  the  fur  trade  would 
have  revealed  so  plain  a  purpose  to  violate  the  treaty  pro 
viding  for  joint  occupation  that  it  speedily  would  have 
led  to  war ;  and  war  with  the  United  States  any  time  after 
1830  in  all  probability  would  have  terminated  in  the 
American  occupancy  of  the  land.  Besides,  Drs.  John 
McLoughlin  and  William  Frazer  Tolmie,  Mr.  Edward 
Huggins  and  Mr.  Heron  were  Christian  men  and  felt  their 

52 


THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 

responsibility  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  both  the  whites 
and  the  Indians.  Dr.  McLoughlin  always  observed  the 
Lord's  Day  at  Fort  Vancouver,  and  while  he  remained  an 
Anglican  read  the  services  of  the  Established  Church 
every  Sunday  with  impressive  reverence.14  Dr.  Tolmie 
and  Mr.  Heron  observed  Sunday  at  Fort  Nisqually  and 
held  the  first  service  ever  conducted  on  the  Northwest 
Coast  for  Indians  in  December,  1833.  Dr.  McLoughlin 
established  a  school  for  the  half-breed  children  of  the 
officers  and  employees  of  the  Company,  to  which  some 
Indian  children  were  admitted;  and  Solomon  Smith,  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  who  came  to  Oregon  with 
Wyeth  on  his  first  trip  in  1832,  was  employed  by  the 
Company  to  teach  the  children  of  Fort  Vancouver  Eng 
lish  branches,  singing,  deportment,  and  morality,  before 
a  missionary  arrived.  The  directors  of  the  Company  in 
London  were  humane  when  humanity  did  not  interfere 
with  dividends.  At  and  around  their  posts  in  Canada 
they  encouraged  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  to  go  among 
the  Indians  and  baptize  them,  in  order  that  the  children 
of  the  forest  might  attain  felicity  in  another  world;  but 
the  directors  did  not  plan  that  the  Indians  should  reach 
civilization  in  this  world.  The  school  at  Fort  Vancouver 
was  due  to  the  humanity  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  was 
conducted  without  orders  from  and  probably  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  directors  in  London. 

As  directors  of  the  Company  in  London  learned  of  the 
presence  of  American  missionaries  in  their  game  preserves, 
they  recognized  the  danger  to  their  trade  and  also  to  the 
sovereignty  of  the  British  nation.  About  the  same  time 


14Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  10. 

53 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

there  was  a  call  from  the  French-Canadian  Catholics  in 
the  Oregon  Country  for  the  spiritual  ministry  of  men  of 
their  own  race  and  tongue  and  church.  Hence  the  Com 
pany  arranged,  in  1838,  for  the  transportation  of  two 
Catholic  priests,  probably  hoping  that  they  would  take 
possession  of  the  religious  field,  as  the  Company  had  taken 
possession  of  the  land  politically  and  commercially.  The 
competition  of  the  Protestant  missionaries  and  the  priests 
soon  aroused  the  savage  Indians  to  such  an  extent  as 
revealed  the  danger  of  pushing  out  the  Protestant  mis 
sionaries  by  taking  possession  of  their  fields.  How  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  conduct  in  ever  admitting  the  Protestant 
missionaries  to  the  field  was  regarded  in  London  later  is 
seen  in  the  following  editorial  utterance  of  Fisher's  Co 
lonial  Magazine  for  January,  1843:  "By  a  strange  and 
unpardonable  oversight  of  the  local  officers  of  the  Com 
pany,  missionaries  from  the  United  States  were  allowed 
to  take  religious  charge  of  the  population ;  and  these  art 
ful  men  lost  no  time  in  introducing  such  a  number  of  their 
countrymen  as  reduced  the  influence  of  the  small  number 
of  British  settlers  to  a  minimum." 

The  religious  struggle  for  the  conversion  or  baptism  of 
the  Indians  inevitably  developed  into  a  political  struggle 
for  the  possession  of  the  lower  Columbia  between  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Methodist  missionaries 
who  came  out  in  1834,  while  the  missions  in  the  upper 
Columbia  region  led  to  a  more  serious  struggle  between 
the  representatives  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding,  who  came  out  in  1836; 
the  reports  of  the  missionaries  in  both  cases  bringing  per 
manent  American  settlers  to  the  country.  Indeed,  before 
the  arrival  of  settlers  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries  in 

54 


THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 

behalf  of  American  authority  were  reenforced  by  a  few 
American  hunters  and  trappers  who  came  and  went  ac 
cording  to  their  desires. 

Meantime  Dr.  McLoughlin  received  orders  from  Londonv 
not  to  sell  to  the  Indians  or  the  missionaries  any  hoes  or 
spades  or  plows  or  cattle,  thus  showing  that  the  directors 
of  the  Company  were  fully  committed  to  the  plan  of  keep 
ing  the  Indians  as  well  as  the  whites  back  from  any  settled 
civilization.  The  orders  seemed  to  Dr.  McLoughlin,  with 
his  large  heart  and  broad  sympathies,  severe,  but  he  carried 
them  out.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  through  the  kind 
ness  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  supplied  the  needs  of  the  Meth 
odist  missionaries  until  they  were  able  to  provide  for 
themselves,  "even  although,"  in  the  words  of  the  Encyclo 
paedia  Britannica,  "it  is  the  manifest  interest  of  monopo 
lists  to  retard  the  advance  of  civilization  toward  their 
hunting  grounds."15  It  was  this  fundamental  difference 
in  aim  between  a  fur  company  desiring  to  keep  the  coun 
try  in  its  wild  state  as  a  vast  game  preserve  and  a  mission 
ary  party  desiring  the  speedy  Christianization  and  civiliza 
tion  of  Indians  and  whites,  their  settlement  upon  the 
lands,  and  the  establishment  of  homes,  which  led  to  diver 
gent  policies  and  brought  on  the  scarcely  concealed  con 
flict  between  the  Company  and  the  Protestant  mission 
aries.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  was  entirely 
proper,  made  an  earnest  effort  to  secure  the  territory  for 
its  own  government,  Great  Britain.  It  must  be  recognized 
that  the  Company  also,  by  preserving  order  around  its  vast 
domains,  among  the  Indians,  among  its  own  employees, 
and  in  part  by  maintaining  order  and  furnishing  food, 


15  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  vol.  xiii,  p.  853a. 

55 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

shelter,  and  medicine  to  Americans  who  reached  Fort 
Vancouver,  contributed  to  the  maintenance  of  peace  and 
of  the  existing  civilization  within  the  Oregon  Country. 

Great  Britain.  The  first  white  man  to  cross  North 
America  was  Alexander  Mackenzie.  He  accomplished  the 
great  journey  and  reached  the  Pacific  Ocean  July  23, 
1793,  at  the  mouth  of  an  inlet  called  the  Cascade  Canal, 
north  latitude  52°  20'.  In  his  narrative  he  tells  of  the 
Indians  calling  the  mountain  range  which  he  crossed  the 
Shining  Mountains,  or  Mountains  of  Bright  Stones.  The 
Indians  thus  named  these  mountains  to  distinguish  their 
bare,  stony  sides  from  the  mountains  covered  with  forests. 
The  British  modified  the  name  into  Stony  Mountains 
and  the  Americans  transformed  the  name  Stony  Moun 
tains  into  the  more  imposing  title,  Rocky  Mountains. 
Thus  Mackenzie  gave  to  the  world  the  first  translation  of 
the  Indian  name  for  our  greatest  mountain  range.  He 
advanced  the  geographical  knowledge  of  North  America 
over  a  wider  area  than  any  other  human  being.  Credit 
a  British  subject  with  the  heroic  feat  of  first  crossing  the 
North  American  continent. 

The  British  government  often  appointed  the  agents  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  justices  of  the  peace,  so  that 
they  might  exercise  civil  authority.  We  do  not  think 
these  agents  were  blamable  for  stretching  their  authority 
at  times.  The  lives  of  all  the  white  men — American  as 
well  as  British — often  depended  upon  the  prompt  exer 
cise  of  strong  authority,  and  the  United  States  govern 
ment  had  failed  to  provide  any  civil  authority  whatever. 
Hence  in  times  of  crisis  the  representative  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  the  government  pursued  the  only 
practicable  course.  History  shows  that,  in  general,  they 

56 

m 


THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY 

left  the  Americans  to  control  themselves  and,  as  already 
mentioned,  encouraged  Jason  Lee  through  David  Leslie, 
to  exercise  authority  over  the  American  settlers  in  the 
Willamette  Valley.  Moreover,  they  generally  induced  the 
Indians  to  punish  their  own  criminals.  The  lack  of 
American  authority  in  Oregon  was  due  to  the  failure  of 
Congress  rather  than  to  opposition  by  the  British  govern 
ment  or  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  But  history  also 
shows  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  British  authority  was  the 
only  authority  exercised  south  as  well  as  north  of  the 
Columbia  River  down  to  1843.  We  must  credit  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin  and  the  British  government  with  success  in 
securing  157,000  square  miles  out  of  the  443,000  square 
miles  of  the  disputed  territory,  whereas  had  the  issue 
reached  a  forcible  decision,  Great  Britain  probably  would 
have  lost  it  all.  So  far  from  regarding  this  outcome  as 
proof  of  overreaching  on  the  part  of  the  Company  or  the 
British  government,  it  seems  to  us  a  demonstration  rather 
of  the  foresight,  the  firmness,  and  also  of  the  fairness  of 
the  British  government,  and  especially  of  Dr.  McLoughlin. 
Upon  the  whole,  the  British  government  surpassed  the 
United  States  government  by  providing  for  the  legal 
control  of  her  own  people  and  of  the  Indians,  without 
necessarily  trenching  upon  our  rights.  The  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  under  Dr.  McLoughlin,  upon  the  whole, 
exercised  the  large  authority  committed  by  the  government 
to  the  Company  with  wisdom.  The  disappointment  of 
the  British  people  over  the  loss  of  the  Puget  Sound 
region  sprang  out  of  ignorance  of  the  situation  and  led 
to  unjust  criticism  of  the  government,  of  the  Company, 
and  especially  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  Unless  the  American 
missionaries,  the  American  pioneers,  and  the  United 

57 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

States  government  had  wholly  failed,  the  British  govern 
ment  in  the  final  treaty  could  not  have  gained  a  single 
foot  more  of  the  territory  than  she  did  secure.  Indeed, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  good  judgment  and  fine  character 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  for  the  Divine  Providence,  the 
British  government  would  not  have  retained  a  foot  of 
ground  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  But  that  calls  for  another 
chapter. 


58 


CHAPTER  IV 
DR.  McLOUGHLIN 

LYMAN  in  one  of  his  noblest  passages  says,  "The  old 
Oregon  from  California  to  Alaska  and  from  the  Pacific 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  had  already  attracted  the  thought 
and  obtained  the  action  of  the  brightest  men  of  all  na 
tions:  Cortez  from  the  Spaniards,  Drake  and  Cook  from 
the  English,  La  Perouse  from  the  French,  Peter  the  Great 
and  Catherine  II  from  the  Russians,  Ledyard,  Jefferson, 
and  Astor  from  the  Americans."  To  these  he  adds  John 
McLoughlin,  whom  he  ranks  among  the  heroes.1 

John  McLoughlin  was  born  October  19,  1784,  in  Parish 
La  Riviere  du  Loup,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  below 
Quebec,  Canada.  His  father  was  born  in  Ireland  and 
his  mother,  of  Scotch  parents,  in  Canada.2  He  was  a 
giant  in  body,  mind,  and  -heart,  being  six  feet,  four  inches 
in  height,  of  fine  physical  proportions,  and  of  character 
matching  his  body.  In  the  case  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and 
Jason  Lee,  we  see  two  giants  contending  for  the  possession 
of  an  empire.  Young  McLoughlin  secured  a  good  general 
education  in  Canada,  then  completed  a  thorough  medical 
course  in  Scotland.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  North- 
West  Fur  Company  of  Montreal  and  was  retained  by  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  when  the  two  companies  were 

1  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  354. 

2  Holman,  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  p.  23. 

59 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

consolidated.  In  due  time  his  skill  as  a  physician,  his 
business  abilities,  his  political  sagacity,  and  his  sterling 
character  raised  him  to  the  post  of  chief  factor  of  the  Com 
pany  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  In  this  capacity  he  exercised 
political  and  commercial  authority  over  some  443,000 
square  miles  of  territory,  and  he  used  his  authority  in  a 
kindly  manner,  but  in  the  highest  interests  of  the  Com 
pany.  He  was  wise,  usually  self-possessed,  and  he  had 
a  genius  for  friendship.  His  Company  and  the  American 
settlers  drifted  into  the  sharpest  political  and  commercial 
competition.  But  while  Dr.  McLoughlin  enforced  some 
harsh  decrees  adopted  by  the  directors  of  the  Company  in 
London,  he  himself  never  lost  the  instincts  of  a  physician, 
the  principles  of  a  just  man,  nor  the  charity  of  a  Chris 
tian;  and  he  rendered  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
including  his  American  competitors,  innumerable  acts  of 
service.  Though  at  times,  on  orders  from  London,  he 
refused  to  sell  Americans  certain  kinds  of  goods  either 
on  credit  or  for  cash,  yet  he  seldom  if  ever  refused  credit 
to  an  American  settler.  We  are  sorry  to  add  that  some 
of  these  settlers  failed  to  pay  their  debts,  though  they 
became  able  to  do  so,  and  Dr.  McLoughlin  bore  the  loss. 

When  Captain  N.  J.  Wyeth  visited  the  Columbia  River 
region  in  1834,  following  the  custom  of  the  great  majority 
of  New  England  grocers  of  that  time,  he  included  liquors 
in  the  goods  which  he  shipped  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colum 
bia  for  sale.  Dr.  McLoughlin's  Journal  contains  the 
statement:  "From  morality  and  policy  I  stopped  the  sale 
and  issue  of  spirituous  liquor  to  the  Indians,  but  to  do 
this  effectually  I  had  to  stop  the  sale  of  liquor  to  all  whites. 
In  1834,  when  Mr.  Wyeth,  of  Boston,  came,  he  began  by 
selling  liquor,  but  on  my  assuring  him  the  Hudson's  Bay 

60 


DR.  McLOUGHLIN 

Company  sold  no  liquor  to  whites  or  Indians,  he  immedi 
ately  adopted  the  same  rule."3  The  facts  show  the  moral 
initiative  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  the  good  judgment  of 
Captain  Wyeth  in  following  the  Doctor's  example.  Jason 
and  Daniel  Lee  owed  Dr.  McLoughlin  undying  gratitude. 
When  they  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  in  1834  Dr.  Mc 
Loughlin  wisely  advised  Jason  Lee  to  settle  in  the  Willam 
ette  Valley  and  teach  the  Indians  religion  and  farming. 
The  advice  was  in  the  interests  of  the  Company,  which 
desired  all  the  white  settlers  to  be  gathered  into  one  loca 
tion  south  of  the  Columbia  and  under  the  Company's  super 
vision.  But  the  founding  of  the  Mission  in  the  Willamette 
Valley  was  even  more  advantageous  to  the  missionaries 
than  to  the  Company.  Dr.  McLoughlin  also  invited  Jason 
Lee  to  preach  at  Fort  Vancouver  where,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  he  soon  baptized  four  adults  and  seventeen  half- 
breed  children.  In  March,  1836,  he  presented  Lee  with 
a  purse  of  $130,  which  he  had  collected  from  his  own 
helpers,  with  a  prayer  for  the  blessing  of  "our  heavenly 
Father,  without  whose  assistance  we  can  do  nothing,  that 
of  his  infinite  mercy  he  may  vouchsafe  to  bless  and  prosper 
your  pious  endeavors."4  The  Willamette  Valley  proved 
to  be  a  large  region,  remarkable  for  the  mildness  of 
its  climate  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil.  In  1838  Lee 
started  back  to  the  States  to  report  to  the  Missionary 
Society  and  the  government,  and  to  bring  more  American 
recruits.  These  recruits,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
would  tend  to  drive  away  the  fur-bearing  animals  upon 
which  the  Company  depended  for  its  profits,  and  they 

3  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  i,  p.  215. 
*Hines,  Oregon:   Its  History,  Condition,  and  Prospects,  p. 
16. 

61 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

would  also  tend  to  strengthen  the  hold  of  the  Americans 
upon  the  country  which  Dr.  McLoughlin  desired  for  Great 
Britain.  Some  three  months  after  Jason  Lee's  departure 
Lee's  wife  died  in  childbirth,  and  Dr.  McLoughlin  sent 
a  courier  at  his  own  expense  all  the  way  from  Fort  Van 
couver  to  Westport,  Missouri,  to  overtake  the  preacher  of 
the  gospel  and  inform  him  of  the  death  of  his  wife  and 
the  infant  son.  Again,  when  Jason  Lee  returned  to  Oregon 
in  1840  with  fifty-two  American  men,  women,  and  chil 
dren — a  number  which  openly  challenged  the  supremacy 
of  the  Company — Dr.  McLoughlin  received  him  with  his 
old-time  friendship  and  hospitality,  assuring  him  that 
there  was  always  room  enough  at  Fort  Vancouver  for 
"Jason  Lee  and  all  of  his."  Again,  when  Daniel  Lee, 
under  the  long  winter  rains  of  the  Oregon  coast  and  his 
heavy  labors  and  responsibilities,  developed  tuberculosis, 
Dr.  McLoughlin  sent  him  at  his  own  expense  to  the  Sand 
wich  Islands,  and  thus  enabled  him  to  recover  his  health 
and  to  live  and  work  for  half  a  century  longer. 

In  1838  Lee  told  McLoughlin  of  his  desire  to  open  a 
mission  station  at  Fort  Nisqually,  about  twenty  miles 
below  what  is  now  Tacoma  and  one  hundred  miles  north 
of  the  Columbia,  and  within  the  territory  to  which  the 
Company  laid  special  claim  for  Great  Britain.  Dr.  Mc 
Loughlin  must  have  recognized  that  this  proposal  involved 
some  danger  to  British  supremacy  in  the  Puget  Sound 
region;  nevertheless,  he  was  so  influenced  by  his  desire 
to  see  the  Indians  saved  and  by  his  friendship  for  Jason 
Lee  that  he  wrote  to  A.  C.  Anderson,  then  in  charge  of 
Fort  Msqually,  directing  him  to  open  the  way  for  Lee 
to  establish  a  station  there.  The  Rev.  David  Leslie  and 
W.  H.  Willson  were  sent  to  select  a  site  and  erect  build- 

62 

4 


DE.  McLOUGHLIN 

ings.  They  arrived  April  10,  1839,  and  were  welcomed 
by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  factor;  and  on  April  17, 
1839,  the  first  tree  was  cut  for  the  mission  buildings.5 
When  Lee,  in  1840,  sent  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Eichmond,  M.D., 
and  his  family  to  preach  and  teach  among  the  Indians  at 
Fort  Nisqually,  Dr.  McLoughlin  wrote  another  letter  to 
Dr.  Tolmie,  requesting  him  to  loan  Dr.  Richmond  cows 
sufficient  to  supply  the  mission  with  milk,  and  to  use  his 
kindly  offices  in  making  the  mission  comfortable.  It  was 
in  recognition  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  early  services  in  invit 
ing  Lee  to  settle  in  the  Willamette  Valley,  in  inviting  him 
to  preach  and  baptize  converts  at  Fort  Vancouver,  and  in 
raising  the  subscription  for  him,  that  Lee  wrote  to  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
as  follows  on  March  28,  1837 :  "At  the  special  request  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  I  am  about  to  send  him  a  note  of  intro 
duction  to  you.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  present  him  a 
certificate  of  life  membership  in  our  Missionary  Society? 
We  have  been  obliged  to  draw  frequently  upon  him  for 
medicine,  for  which  he  refuses  to  take  any  remuneration. 
I  mentioned  in  my  last  letter  that  I  was  fully  convinced 
that  this  country  would  be  settled  at  no  distant  period."6 
It  was  by  such  services  not  only  to  the  Lees  but  to  other 
Americans  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  displayed  his  manliness 
and  at  the  same  time  advanced  the  permanent  interests 
of  his  Company  and  his  country,  for  fairness  and  kindli 
ness  are  political  and  business  assets  of  real  value.  Lyman 
writes,  "It  is  stated  that  the  cargo  of  the  annual  ship  sent 
from  the  Columbia  to  England  was  worth  £200,000  sterl 
ing.  ...  It  is  thought  that  during  its  occupancy  of  the 

8  Meeker,  Pioneer  Reminiscences  of  Puget  Sound,  p.  488. 
•Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  pp.  54,  55. 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Columbia  Valley  as  much  as  twenty-eight  million  dollars' 
worth  of  furs  were  sent  to  the  London  stockholders."7 
In  the  Oregon  Country — that  is,  the  region  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  between  42°  and  54°  40'  north  latitude — 
Dr.  McLoughlin  declares  that  since  1826  the  Americans 
had  outnumbered  the  British.8  Again,,  he  declares  that 
as  early  as  1826  there  were  as  many  as  five  hundred  Ameri 
can  trappers  on  the  Snake  River.9  We  think  Dr.  Mc 
Loughlin  made  an  overestimate  of  the  number  of  Ameri 
cans  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  though  he  doubtless 
possessed,  through  his  own  hunters  and  trappers  who 
traversed  the  entire  region,  better  data  than  any  other  man 
for  a  correct  estimate.  The  total  number  of  American 
immigrants  in  the  Willamette  Valley  at  the  end  of  1841 
was  perhaps  no  more  than  four  hundred.10  It  was  not 
until  after  the  arrival  of  Dr.  White's  party  in  1842  that 
the  Americans  in  the  Willamette  Valley  were  able  to 
carry  the  measure  for  the  provisional  government,  and 
then  only  by  the  aid  of  two  or  three  Canadian  votes. 
But  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  forced  to  consider  the  entire 
region  which  he  governed,  and  in  this  region,  as  a  whole, 
with  bold  and  resolute  Americans  outnumbering  the 
British,  and  with  the  American  nation  occupying  the 
adjoining  portion  of  the  continent,  kindness  was  a  far 
wiser  policy  than  harshness.  We  have  striking  illustra 
tions  of  the  opposite  policy  which  Dr.  McLoughlin,  under 
the  spur  of  the  London  directors,  enforced  in  two  or  three 


7Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  375. 
8  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  500,  note. 
"Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  374. 
10  Garry,  Oregon  Historical  Society  Quarterly,  vol.  i,  p.  370. 

64 


DE.  McLOUGHLIN 

cases.  We  condense  the  account  from  Bancroft.11  On 
the  arrival  of  the  American  immigrants  in  1844  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin  refused  Michael  T.  Simmons  permission  to  live 
in  Fort  Vancouver  with  his  family  during  the  winter  of 
1844-45  unless  he  would  agree  to  settle  south  of  the 
Columbia  River.  Simmons  at  once  decided  that  the  north 
side  of  the  Columbia  River  was  more  desirable ;  he  secured 
a  log  house  for  the  winter  and  in  the  spring  of  1845  set 
out  for  Puget  Sound  with  five  other  American  men.  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  enforcement  of  his  claims  against  Henry 
Williamson  and  Isaac  W.  Alderman  provoked  conflict  and 
threatened  to  develop  into  war.  Dr.  McLoughlin  possibly 
was  within  his  technical  rights  because  his  Company 
already  was  using  for  pasture  the  land  to  which  William 
son  and  Alderman  laid  claim,  and  he  was  sustained  by 
the  provisional  government  of  Oregon.  Alderman  espe 
cially  was  a  violent  and  unprincipled  character  who  was 
killed  in  1848  in  California  "under  circumstances  that 
justified  the  homicide."12  "Thus,"  as  Bancroft  well  ob 
serves,  "by  an  effort  to  avoid  the  censure  of  the  directors 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  London,  some  of  whom 
had  influence  with  members  of  the  British  cabinet,  by 
keeping  American  settlers  south  of  the  Columbia  River, 
McLoughlin  provoked  their  opposition  and  hastened  the 
beginning  of  their  occupancy  in  the  region  about  that 
beautiful  inland  sea,  which  the  Company  had  no  doubt 
at  that  time  would  come  into  the  possession  of  Great 
Britain."13  Had  some  other  man  been  chief  factor,  and 
had  he  not  been  harsh  but  simply  firm  and  unyielding  in 

11  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  458-465. 

12  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  459,  note. 

13  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  464-465. 

65 


THE  OEEGON  MISSIONS 

maintaining  what  he  considered  to  be  the  legal  rights  of 
his  Company  and.  his  country,  such  firmness  would  have 
been  regarded  by  the  Americans  as  harshness  and  would 
have  led  to  a  struggle  which,  judging  by  the  wars  of  1776 
and  1812,  must  have  resulted  in  defeat  for  Great  Britain. 
Again  when  the  inevitable  struggle  arose  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  the  loss  by  the  British  of  the  territory  north 
of  the  Columbia  became  evident,  Dr.  McLoughlin  saw 
to  it  that  the  disappointment  of  the  officers  and  employees 
of  the  Company  and  of  British  subjects  did  not  precipitate 
bloodshed  between  them  and  the  American  settlers.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  saved  for  Great  Britain  far  more  of  the  land 
embraced  in  the  original  territory  than  a  hard-headed 
chief  factor  could  have  secured.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  political  campaign  of  1844  in  the  United  States 
was  carried  on  with  the  winning  party  using  as  its  cam 
paign  cry,  "Fifty-four  Forty  or  Fight."  The  Democratic 
party,  which  was  the  war  party,  won  by  a  large  majority, 
and  by  this  campaign  cry  was  committed  to  the  extension 
of  the  American  boundaries  as  far  north  as  the  Eussian 
possessions.  While  the  sober  judgment  of  the  Democratic 
leaders  never  approved  this  extreme  claim,  and  while  these 
leaders  did  not  really  desire  to  add  to  the  United  States 
large  territory  to  the  north  which  they  feared  would  ex 
clude  slavery,  yet  with  their  campaign  cry  and  pledges,  a 
single  harsh  act  on  Dr.  McLoughlin's  part  might  easily 
have  precipitated  a  war  with  the  United  States  for  the 
entire  territory  up  to  the  Eussian  line. 

Another  important  fact  must  be  borne  in  mind.  The. 
purchase  of  Alaska  and  the  settlement  of  the  Alaskan 
boundary  gives  the  United  States  a  coast  line  along  the 
southern  border  of  Alaska  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  almost 

66 


DR.  McLOUGHLIN 

the  entire  distance  across  the  Pacific,  as  far  west  as 
Chicagof  Harbor,  Attu  Island,  186°  47'  west  longitude, 
that  is,  almost  to  the  borders  of  Asia.14  Nor  is  this 
stretch  of  sea  coast  across  the  north  Pacific  valueless.  On 
the  contrary,  it  abounds  in  harbors  like  Resurrection  Bay, 
Chiginig  Bay,  Denmark  Bay,  Dutch  Harbor,  Unalaska 
Bay,  Constantine  Harbor,  Kiska  Island  and  Bay,  and 
Chicagof  Harbor,  each  of  which  is  open  all  the  year  and 
is  large  enough  to  hold  a  large  navy.  The  report  of  the 
recent  survey  of  these  harbors  by  the  United  States  has 
been  pronounced  the  most  important  geographical  in 
formation  of  this  century.  For  strategic  purposes  these 
harbors  are  of  incalculable  value.  With  this  coast  line 
across  the  northern  borders  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  along 
the  shortest  route  to  Asia,  and  with  our  harbors  in  the 
Philippines,  Guam,  Hawaii,  Panama,  and  along  the  coast 
from  Mexico  to  British  America,  we  are  sure  that  the  best 
interests  of  the  United  States  and  of  Christendom  were 
conserved  by  Great  Britain  securing  the  fine  harbors  on 
the  coast  from  49°  to  54°  40';  and  we  do  not  know  any 
man  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  Canada,  or  among 
the  British  statesmen  of  that  day  who  could  have  held 
this  territory  for  Great  Britain  aside  from  John  Mc- 
Loughlin.  The  fiery  Douglas,  who  became  MeLoughlin's 
successor,  would  have  lost  it  in  the  first  controversy  with 
Americans. 

Finally,  when  the  directors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  in  London  criticized  Dr.  McLoughlin  for  his  gener 
ous  treatment  of  Americans,  his  self-respect  led  him  to 
resign  his  office,  thus  surrendering  his  almost  unlimited 
authority  over  a  territory  four  times  as  large  as  Great 

"Nelson's  Encyclopaedia,  art.,  "Alaska," 

67 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Britain,  and  his  income  of  $12,000  a  year.  Moreover, 
through  these  very  acts  of  humanity  and  real  statesman 
ship,  Dr.  McLoughlin  came  in  the  end  to  be  regarded  by 
the  directors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  London 
and  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain  as  a  traitor  to  his 
country.  Indeed,  the  feeling  that  he  was  an  outcast 
from  his  own  country  led  him  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  the 
Americans  and  become  a  citizen  of  Oregon.  But  the 
Americans  in  Oregon  had  suffered  too  much  from  the 
monopoly  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  had  become 
too  partisan  to  treat  the  head  of  that  Company  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  with  justice,  not  to  speak  of  generosity. 
Even  the  Methodists,  including,  as  he  believed  for  a  time, 
Jason  Lee,  whom  he  had  trusted  more  fully  than  any  other 
man  among  the  Americans,  appeared  to  betray  him  in 
his  old  age;  and  he  bitterly  resented  the  "jumping"  of 
a  part  of  his  claim  to  the  site  of  Oregon  City  by  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Mission  in  1840.  As  we  show  in  Chapter 
XIII,  entitled  "Lee's  Sun  Sets,"  Lee  supported  Mc 
Loughlin  at  the  cost  of  the  support  of  his  fellow  mission 
aries  and  at  a  time  when  he  greatly  needed  their  support. 
The  Oregon  Legislature  later  accepted  Lee's  view.  But 
the  restitution  by  the  Oregon  Legislature  of  Dr.  McLough- 
lin's  rights  did  not  come  until  after  his  death;  and  the 
noble  old  man  lived  his  last  years,  as  he  himself  said,  "a 
man  without  a  country,"  and  died  in  loneliness  September 
3,  1857,  at  Oregon  City,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three.15  The 
disappointing  close  of  John  McLoughlin's  life  with  his 
lonely  death  is  one  of  the  tragedies  of  the  Oregon  Country. 
For  more  than  a  century  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  have  failed  to  recognize  him.  Believing  that  citi- 

15  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  130. 

68 


DR.  McLOUGHLIN 

zens  of  all  countries  in  the  long  run  desire  to  render  justice 
to  their  fellow  citizens,  we  anticipate  the  time  when  British 
historians  will  honor  the  memory  of  John  McLoughlin 
as  the  man  who  saved  her  the  northern  section  of  the 
Oregon  territory  and  secured  his  country  an  everlasting 
position  on  the  Pacific  Ocean.  We  trust  the  time  will 
come  when  citizens  of  Oregon  and  the  United  States  will 
recognize  him  as  an  American  citizen  and  raise  a  monu 
ment  to  the  memory  of  the  man  who  knew  how  to  yield 
an  empire  to  the  arbitrament  of  justice  and  to  the  inevita 
ble  march  of  civilization,  and  who  thus  gave  our  country 
her  just  rights  without  a  bitter  war.  Lyman,  in  opening 
his  sketch  of  over  seventy  pages  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
career,  writes  this  wise  and  just  estimate  of  the  leader  of 
the  British  forces  for  the  possession  of  an  imperial  do 
main:  "It  almost  forces  itself  upon  one  to  say  .  .  .  that 
a  period  of  twenty  years  of  uncertainty  and  dispute  over 
a  territory  that  was  felt  to  carry  with  it  the  empire  of 
North  America,  and  even  dimly  that  of  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
could  have  been  covered  under  no  other  hand  than  that 
of  McLoughlin  without  drenching  the  soil  of  Oregon  with 
blood."16  Surely,  the  time  will  come  when  the  people 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States — Protestants  and 
Catholics — all  will  join  in  honoring  the  memory  of  the 
man  whose  sense  of  justice  and  whose  Christian  kindliness 
conserved  not  only  the  highest  interests  of  his  country 
and  his  church,  but  of  humanity  as  well,  and  who,  by  his 
services,  his  position,  and  his  character,  looms  as  the 
largest  single  factor  in  the  early  history  of  the  Northwest 
Coast. 


Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  357. 
69 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

THE  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  been  noted  for  its 
work  among  the  Indians.  In  time  her  work  has  extended 
from  the  earliest  settlements  in  the  New  World  down  to 
the  present  moment  and  in  area  over  both  North  and 
South  America.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore, 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  became  a  factor  in  the 
settlement  of  the  Northwest  Boundary  dispute,  and  a 
still  more  important  factor  in  the  subsequent  life  of  the 
Indians.  The  presence  of  the  Methodist  and  American 
Board  missionaries  in  the  Oregon  Country  naturally  led 
the  French  Canadians  to  desire  missionaries  of  their  own 
faith.  Accordingly,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  furnished 
transportation  to  Oregon  for  Fathers  F.  N.  Blanchet  and 
Modeste  Demers  in  1838.  The  Methodist  missionaries 
had  told  the  Indian  women  not  to  live  with  the  white 
men  unless  the  white  men  would  marry  them ;  and  several 
French- Canadian  men  and  Indian  women  had  been  mar 
ried  by  the  Methodist  preachers.  On  his  arrival  in  Oregon 
Father  Blanchet  told  his  members  that  their  marriage  by 
the  Methodists  was  not  lawful,  and  under  the  influence 
of  the  priests  many  of  the  Canadian  employees  were  re 
married.  Father  Blanchet  describes  how  in  a  struggle 
against  the  Methodists  he  Christianized  some  of  the  most 
depraved  Indians  in  a  few  days.  Again  he  records  his 
success  in  baptizing  eleven  children  and  inducing  their 

70 


THE  EOMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

parents  to  forsake  the  Methodists.  Father  De  Smet,  in 
1841,  visited  the  Flatheads,  after  their  return  to  the  Upper 
Columbia,  some  of  whom  the  American  Board  mission 
aries  had  awakened.  On  returning  from  them  he  founded 
the  Mission  of  Saint  Mary,  long  one  of  the  most  successful 
Indian  missions  in  the  Northwest.  During  the  struggle 
between  the  Protestants  and  the  Roman  Catholics  Dr. 
McLoughlin  joined  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  Novem 
ber  18,  1842,  and  the  priests  won  a  notable  victory  in 
bringing  him  back  into  the  church  of  his  childhood. 
Father  Blanchet,  who  had  held  the  rank  of  vicar-general 
of  the  Oregon  Mission,  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  arch 
bishop,  Oregon  being  erected  into  an  apostolic  vicariate 
by  Pope  Gregory  XVI  December  1,  1843.  Later  it  was 
erected  into  an  ecclesiastical  province  with  three  sees — 
Oregon  City,  Walla  Walla,  and  Vancouver  Island;  the 
first  was  allotted  to  the  archbishop,  the  second  to  his 
brother,  the  Rev.  A.  M.  A.  Blanchet,  canon  of  Montreal, 
and  the  third  to  the  Rev.  Modeste  Demers,  who  had  suc 
ceeded  Archbishop  Blanchet  as  vicar-general.  Archbishop 
Blanchet  went  to  Europe  after  his  consecration  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Quebec,  and  met  with  great  success  in 
securing  funds  and  fellow  workers  for  the  Oregon  Mission, 
his  plea  being  that  in  conjunction  with  the  missions  in 
Mexico,  which  included  California,  he  was  saving  the 
entire  Pacific  Coast  to  the  Catholic  faith.  By  November, 
1847,  he  had  three  bishops,  fourteen  Jesuit  priests,  four 
oblate  priests,  thirteen  secular  priests,  and  thirteen  sis 
ters,  aside  from  the  lay  brethren,  whose  numbers  are  not 
given.1  The  Catholics,  as  well  as  the  Methodists,  had  a 

1  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  yol.  i,  p.  328. 

71 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

larger  number  of  lay  missionaries  than  clerical.  Arch 
bishop  Blanchet's  plans  were  farseeing  and  statesmanlike; 
and  he  and  the  Catholic  missionaries  put  forth  heroic 
efforts  to  carry  these  plans  out.  It  should  be  freely  recog 
nized  also  that  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  by  very 
widely  extended  and  long-continued  labors  among  the 
Indians  contributed  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  region. 

As  recorded  in  EelPs  "Marcus  Whitman,"  the  Cay- 
use  Indians  on  November  29,  1847,  attacked  Dr.  Whit 
man's  Mission  station  at  Waiilatpu,  murdered  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Whitman  and  twelve  other  persons  and  took  the 
remaining  white  women  prisoners.  Surviving  members 
of  white  families  slaughtered  in  the  Whitman  massacre 
of  1847  believed  down  to  their  death  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries  tolerated,  if  they  did  not  encourage, 
in  the  superstitious  Indians  the  conviction  that  Dr.  Whit 
man  and  the  missionaries  were  spreading  the  disease  which 
was  sweeping  them  from  the  earth;  and  that  it  was  this 
superstitious  conviction  of  the  Indians  which  aroused  them 
to  the  massacre.  Just  following  the  massacre  Vicar- 
General  Brouillet  arrived  at  the  Waiilatpu  Station.  Father 
Brouillet  was  assigned  for  the  night  by  the  Indians  to 
the  home  of  one  of  the  murdered  missionaries.  All  night 
long  the  air  was  rent  with  the  shrieks  and  groans  of  the 
white  women,  with  whom  the  Indians  were  sating  their 
lust.  There  was  no  protest  by  Father  Brouillet  against 
the  satanic  conduct  of  the  Indians.  The  next  morning, 
while  the  bodies  of  the  slaughtered  white  men  still  lay 
unburied,  and  the  women  and  girls  were  yet  crying  in. 
their  distress,  Father  Brouillet  assembled  the  Indians  who 
were  present  at  the  massacre  and  baptized  their  children. 

72 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

The  fact  is  undisputed,  Father  Brouillet  himself  relating 
it  to  Mr.  Spalding.  Two  or  three  days  later,  Miss  Bewley 
was  forcibly  put  upon  a  horse  and  carried  to  the  Umatilla 
to  be  the  wife  of  Five  Crows,  a  Cayuse  chief,  who  under 
Dr.  Whitman  had  professed  the  Protestant  faith.  Her 
sworn  testimony,  taken  before  Squire  Walling  at  the  trial 
of  the  murderers  at  Oregon  City  in  1848,  shows  that  on 
being  brought  to  the  Umatilla  the  C  Mse  chief  received 
her  in  his  lodge.  In  response  to  her  c  ^aties,  the  chief 
told  her  that  she  might  go  over  to  hu  hoase  of  the  priests 
and  that  he  would  come  for  her  at  i^ght.  Accordingly, 
she  went  over  to  Bishop  Blanchet' s  house  and  met  Bishop 
Blanchet,  Vicar-General  Brouillet,  two  priests,  and  three 
French  laymen — seven  white  men  in  all.  Five  Crows 
came  for  her  that  evening,  but  she  refused  to  go  and  spend 
the  night  with  him.  After  the  chief  returned  to  his  lodge, 
Bishop  Blanchet  urged  her  to  go  and  be  the  wife  of  Five 
Crows,  and  Vicar-General  Brouillet  ordered  his  servant  to 
take  her  over.  "I  fell  upon  my  knees,"  she  said,  before  the 
priest.  '0,  do  pity  me,  save  me;  don't  give  me  up  to  the 
Indians,  but  shoot  me.'  He  arose  and  brushed  away  my 
hands,  and  said  to  the  servant  to  take  me  away.  I  then 
sprang  toward  the  two  young  priests,  holding  my  hand 
appealingly,  but  they  said  nothing  and  moved  not  a  hand, 
and  the  servant,  half-dragging,  half  carrying  me,  hurried 
away."2 

We  have  read  the  evidence  furnished  by  H.  H.  Spalding 
in  the  series  of  lectures  given  by  him  and  printed  in  the 
Albany  (Oregon)  Democrat  in  1867-68,  in  which  Mr. 
Spalding  charges  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  with 


a  Warren,  Memoirs  of  the  West,  p.  134. 

73 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

complicity  in  this  massacre.  Bancroft  holds  that  Spald 
ing's  mind  was  unbalanced  by  the  seven  days  of  exposure 
and  suffering  and  fear  through  which  he  passed  in  escap 
ing  from  the  Indians-  near  Waiilatpu  the  day  following 
the  massacre  and  during  the  journey  to  Lapwai,  and  that 
he  remained  unbalanced  upon  this  subject.3  The  Rev. 
Myron  Eells,  while  accepting  Spalding's  accusation  against 
the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  and  his  claim  that  Dr. 
"Whitman  saved  the  Oregon  Country  to  the  United  States, 
nevertheless  recognizes  six  important  errors  in  a  brief 
statement  by  Mr.  Spalding  in  regard  to  Whitman  saving 
Oregon ;  and  he  accounts  for  these  vital  errors  in  matters 
of  fact  on  the  ground  that  Mr.  Spalding's  mind  was  un 
balanced  on  some  topics  by  the  massacre.4  The  Rev.  H.  K. 
Hines,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  after  stating 
that  some  writers,  including  W.  H.  Gray,  charged  the 
massacre  almost  wholly  to  the  influence  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries,  adds:  "The  consensus  of  later  and 
calmer  judgment,  however,  has  been  that,  while  the  pres 
ence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  in  the  country, 
with  their  always  unrelenting  and  unconcealed  opposition 
to  Protestantism,  had  a  strong  influence  on  many  of  the 
Indians  against  the  missions  and  the  missionaries,  they 
did  not  seek  or  advise  the  destruction  of  the  mission  in 
this  awful  way.  The  controversy  on  this  theme  has  been 
very  extended,  and  we  cannot  enter  upon  it  in  this  book. 
Still,  it  would  not  be  fair  to  the  unstudied  reader  if  we 
did  not  say,  that,  after  many  years  of  examination,  and 
a  personal  acquaintance  with  all  the  chief  actors  in  the 
events  of  that  thrilling  era  in  Oregon  history  except  Dr. 

1  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  665,  note. 
4Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  pp.  236-238. 

74 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

Whitman  himself,  including  the  Catholic  priests  and  the 
leading  characters  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  such 
seems  to  us  to  be  the  most  reasonable  conclusion  of  his 
tory."5  Bancroft  says,  "The  position  of  the  priests  was 
made  ground  for  serious  accusation."6  He  recognizes  that 
the  sworn  testimony  at  the  trial  convicts  the  priests  of 
acquiescence  in  the  brutal  assaults  of  the  Indian  men  upon 
the  white  women  and  girls,  but  adds  in  apology  for  the 
conduct  of  the  priests,  "It  is  difficult  to  see  how  they  could 
have  interfered  without  first  having  resolved  to  give  up 
their  mission  and  risk  their  lives."7  He  adds  that  at  least 
one  American  man  who  had  been  wounded  fled  and  left 
his  wife  and  children  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians.8  In  a 
word,  Bancroft  admits  the  facts  as  to  the  extreme  lust 
and  brutalities  of  the  savages  and  the  acquiescence  of 
the  priests,  but  accounts  for  them,  not  through  any  de 
liberate  purpose  upon  the  part  of  the  priests  to  abandon 
the  Protestant  missionaries  to  their  fate,  but  through  a 
fear  so  craven  that  white  men  and  women,  Protestant  as 
well  as  Catholic,  acquiesced  in  almost  any  acts  which 
would  save  their  lives.9  We  are  clear  in  our  conviction 
that  the  massacre  was  not  planned  or  deliberately  encour 
aged  by  the  Roman  Catholic  priests.  On  the  contrary, 
when  Vicar-General  Brouillet,  the  morning  after  the 
massacre,  met  Mr.  Spalding  on  his  way  to  Waiilatpu,  he 
told  Spalding  of  the  massacre,  thus  enabling  him  to  turn 


8  Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  pp. 
485-486. 

6  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  663. 

7  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  663. 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  663. 
•Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  663,  note. 

75 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

back  toward  Lapwai  and  save  his  life;  and  Brouillet  was 
savagely  rebuked  by  the  Indians  for  giving  Spalding  warn 
ing.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  Brouillet  told  Spalding  of 
his  baptism  of  the  Indian  children  and  burial  of  the  dead 
whites  shows  that  Brouillet  was  not  conscious  of  guilt  in 
this  conduct.  Surely,  a  Catholic  priest  would  not  confess 
his  sins  to  a  Protestant  minister  and  then  help  to  preserve 
the  life  of  that  minister  and  thus  enable  him  to  bruit 
his  Catholic  brother's  crime  to  the  world.  Brouillet  testi 
fied  that  he  expected  to  be  murdered  for  joining  another 
white  man  in  burying  the  bodies  of  the  missionaries,  and 
he  did  come  near  being  killed  because  of  his  warning  to 
Spalding;  nevertheless,  he  warned  the  living  and  took 
part  in  this  act  of  reverence  for  the  dead.  We  can  under 
stand  how  a  priest,  fearing  that  he  might  be  murdered 
for  joining  another  white  man  in  burying  the  bodies  of 
the  whites,  believing  in  the  efficacy  of  baptism  for  eternal 
salvation  and  anxious  to  snatch  some  brands  from  the 
burning,  decided  to  baptize  the  children  before  joining 
in  burying  the  bodies  of  the  victims  of  the  massacre.  We 
are  compelled  to  say  that  the  acts  of  most  of  the  white 
men — agents,  priests,  and  Protestants — were  unheroic  and 
cowardly.  For  the  first  few  hours,  and  perhaps  for  the 
first  few  days  after  the  massacre,  it  was  a  sad  illustration 
of  the  sudden  savagery  of  the  Indians  blazing  out  and  of 
panic  upon  the  part  of  the  whites  overcoming  their  sense 
of  duty;  it  was  another  case  of  Peter  denying  his  Lord. 
It  is  well  for  us  all  that  Jesus  graciously  forgives  and 
restores;  and  the  Catholic  priests  showed  by  their  later 
life-long  hardships  and  sufferings  and  victories  that, 
though  stampeded  in  a  crisis,  yet,  like  Peter,  they  were 
capable  of  heroic  living  and  dying. 

76 

m 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

Turning  from  the  sad  incidents  connected  with  the 
massacre  to  the  general  attitude  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  toward  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin's  union  with  that  church  and  the  transportation 
of  Fathers  Blanchet  and  Demers  to  the  Pacific  Coast  by 
the  Company  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  Company  at  first 
welcomed  the  Roman  Catholic  aid,  probably  on  the  ground 
that  the  priests  would  leave  the  Indians  longer  in  their 
hunting  and  trapping  stage;  though  a  little  later,  when 
sectarian  strife  aroused  the  Indians  to  savagery  and  re 
sulted  in  the  slaughter  of  the  Whitman  group,  the  Com 
pany  refused  free  transportation  to  additional  priests. 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  the  legal  right  to  follow 
its  own  interests  as  far  as  they  did  not  conflict  with  the 
treaty  of  joint  occupancy  or  the  claims  of  humanity,  and 
the  priests  had  the  right  to  enjoy  the  advantages  which 
the  favor  of  the  Company  gave  them. 

It  has  been  claimed  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
the  British  and  Canadian  governments  that  they  never 
expatriated  the  Indians,  as  the  United  States  government 
has  done.  This  claim  is  true,  and  is  greatly  to  their  credit. 
It  has  been  claimed  with  some  show  of  reason  that  the 
slower  pace  at  which  the  priests-  led  their  wards  toward 
civilization  preserved  more  Indians  alive  than  did  the 
faster  pace  of  the  Protestant  missionaries.  Probably  there 
is  truth  in  this  claim.  It  has  been  claimed  further,  that 
the  Company,  the  British  government,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  elevated  the  half-breed  Indians  to  equal 
political  rights  with  the  white  men,  and  lifted  the  mixed 
race  to  the  white  man's  stage  of  civilization.  The  first 
part  of  this  claim  is  true,  but  the  latter  part  is  not  true. 

Summing  up  the  whole  case:  The  conduct  of  Bishop 

77 


THE  OEEGON  MISSIONS 

Blanchet,  Vicar-General  Brouillet,  and  Mr.  McBean,  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  agent,  was  unheroic ;  white  men 
at  their  best  would  not  have  been  guilty  of  such  cowardice. 
But,  unfortunately,  in  the  panic  neither  Protestant  nor 
Catholic  white  men  were  at  their  best.  But  Peter  Skeen 
Ogden,  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  acting  upon  the 
instructions  of  James  Douglas,  the  chief  factor,  aided  by 
one  of  the  priests,  later  purchased  and  delivered  the  cap 
tive  women  and  children  from  the  Indians.  We  must  also 
give  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church  credit  for  resuming  its 
missionary  work  earlier,  after  the  massacre  and  Indian 
war,  and  prosecuting  it  more  earnestly  than  the  American 
Board,  the  Presbyterian  Board,  or  the  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  We  are  glad  the 
Protestant  churches  repented  of  their  sins  of  omission  and 
later  resumed  missionary  activities,  and  that  they  have 
since  done  good  work  in  saving  the  remnant  of  the  Indians. 
That  the  work  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  was,  upon 
the  whole,  more  helpful  to  the  Indians  than  the  work  of 
Protestant  missions  we  do  not  believe.  Horace  S.  Lyman' s 
volumes  have  the  general  indorsement  of  an  associate 
board  of  editors  composed  of  Harvey  W.  Scott,  the  famous 
editor  of  the  Oregonian;  Charles  B.  Bellinger  and  Fred 
erick  G.  Young,  men  of  high  standing  and  character  in 
Oregon.  After  reviewing  the  whole  history  of  missions 
down  to  the  present  time,  Lyman  reaches  this  conclusion: 
"That  the  effects  of  the  Catholic  teaching  were  more  salu 
tary  upon  the  Indians  than  had  been  those  of  the  Protes 
tant,  as  has  been  contended  by  a  number  of  historians 
of  this  State,  may  be  doubted."10  We  ourselves  doubt  the 


10  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  iii,  p.  422. 

78 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

superiority  of  the  method  of  dealing  with  the  Indians 
adopted  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  British  and 
Canadian  governments,  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
Of  the  209,766  Indians  in  the  United  States  in  1916, 
31,665  were  members  of  the  Protestant  churches,  67,176 
were  adherents,  and  17,771  were  in  the  Sunday  schools. 
The  Sunday  school  scholars  in  a  measure  duplicate  the 
church  members.  But  these  statistics  show  that  substan 
tially  one  half  of  the  Indians  in  the  United  States  are 
affiliated  with  the  Protestant  churches.11  Of  the  remnant 
of  the  Indians  preserved,  209,766  are  found  in  the  United 
States  and  105,492  in  Canada.12  These  numbers  show 
that  the  slow  and  partial  method  of  advancing  the  Indians 
in  civilization  has  not  resulted  in  the  survival  of  a  larger 


"The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  October,  1916,  p. 

776,    gives    the    following    statistics    of    Protestant  missions 

among  the  Indians:  g  g 

Members.        Adherents.  Scholars. 

Baptists    5,408          13,582  1,220 

Congregationalists    1,331            3,000  463 

Methodist  Episcopal 2,500            6,000  1,750 

Methodist  Episcopal,   South 2,875            7,187  766 

Presbyterian,    North 8,955          18,319  7,915 

Protestant  Episcopal 6,982          10,000  1,500" 

Others    3,614            9,088  4,157 


Totals    31,665  67,176  17,771 

These  figures  show  that  nearly  one  half  of  the  209,000  sur 
viving  Indians  are  members  or  adherents  of  some  Protestant 
church,  and  that  of  this  number  the  Presbyterians  have  the 
largest  number  of  church  members  and  the  largest  number 
of  adherents,  and  that  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  ranks 
next. 

12  World  Almanac,  1917,  p.  519. 

79 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

number  of  Indians  in  Canada  than  in  the  United  States. 
We  have  read,  though  we  cannot  recall  the  authority,  that 
the  rate  of  increase  to-day  is  not  so  rapid  among  the  In 
dians  of  Canada  as  among  the  Indians  of  the  United 
States.  On  the  other  hand,  the  original  Indian  population 
of  Canada  was  smaller  than  that  of  the  United  States; 
and  Canada  probably  has  preserved  a  larger  proportion 
of  the  aboriginal  population  than  we  have.  Again,  the 
American  schools  in  which  the  Indians  living  in  the 
United  States  have  been  educated,  while  more  largely 
taught  by  Roman  Catholics  than  by  Protestants,  are  sup 
ported  by  the  United  States  government  and  not  by  Ro 
man  Catholic  gifts.  The  government  spent  $4,391,000 
for  Indian  education  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1916. 13 
Consequently,  credit  for  this  work  belongs  to  the  United 
States  government  rather  than  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
or  to  any  Protestant  church.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  the 
Indians  in  the  United  States  are  making  more  progress 
than  the  Indians  of  Canada  is  due  to  larger  opportunities 
in  the  United  States  than  the  Canadian  government  is 
offering  them.  Possibly  their  advance  in  civilization  and 
in  their  acceptance  of  republican  institutions  is  due  to 
Protestant  rather  more  than  to  Roman  Catholic  influences. 
All  students  of  the  Indian  race  must  give  credit  both  to 
Roman  Catholic  and  to  Protestant  missionaries  for  its 
preservation ;  and  it  is  safer  as  well  as  more  modest  to  leave 
to  Christ  on  the  Judgment  Day  the  apportionment  of  the 
praise  which  belongs  to  each  of  these  heroic  bands  of 
workers. 

18  World  Almanac,  1917,  p.  519. 

80 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

WE  shall  not  take  time  to  discuss  the  claims  of  the 
United  States  to  the  entire  Oregon  Country  through  Cap 
tain  Robert  Gray's  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
in  1792,  through  our  purchase  from  France  in  1803  of 
the  Louisiana  Territory  and  of  the  entire  French  claims 
to  the  Northwest  Coast,  through  the  Lewis  and  Clark  ex 
ploration  of  the  Columbia  River  region  in  1804-06,  through 
the  founding  of  the  trading  post  of  Astoria  in  1811, 
through  our  purchase  from  Spain  in  1819  of  Florida,  and 
of  the  entire  Spanish  claims  to  the  Northwest  Coast  based 
on  the  Spanish  discoveries.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  both  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  presented  plausible 
claims  to  the  entire  coast.  The  United  States  had  a  better 
title  than  any  other  nations  could  show  to  the  valley  of 
the  Columbia,  comprising  the  coast  as  far  north  as  per 
haps  the  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude.  But  even  this 
rich  region  "the  United  States  all  but  lost  by  reason  of 
the  indifference  of  the  American  Government  and  people."1 

To  understand  clearly  the  early  indifference  of  our  gov 
ernment  to  this  coast  we  must  remember  that  one  fact  of 
vast  importance  in  determining  the  value  of  the  Northwest 
Coast  seems  at  that  time  not  to  have  been  recognized  by 

1  Bruce,  Romance  of  American  Expansion,  p.  108. 

81 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

our  government  or  people.  The  Japan  Current,  or  Black 
Current,  raises  the  temperature  of  Oregon  and  Washing 
ton  just  as  the  Gulf  Stream  raises  the  temperature  of 
England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland.  But  we  can  find  no  hint 
of  any  recognition  of  this  fact  by  American  statesmen 
between  1800  and  1830.  The  Great  Lakes,  for  several 
hundred  miles,  form  a  natural  boundary  between  the  two 
nations  and  carried  the  boundary  line  as  far  south  as  the 
forty-second  degree  and  north  almost  to  the  forty-ninth 
degree  at  the  western  end  of  Lake  Superior.  An  erroneous 
impression  from  certain  old  maps  led  the  commissioners 
at  the  treaty  of  Ghent  to  believe  that  the  49th  parallel  of 
latitude  was  the  boundary  line  drawn  in  1718  between  the 
British  and  French  claims  west  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Hence  from  the  mouth  of  Pigeon  River  on  Lake  Superior 
the  line  was  carried  northwest  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods 
and  then  extended  along  the  49th  parallel  from  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  the  Convention 
of  1818.  The  northern  boundary  of  Vermont,  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  Maine  ranges  from  45°  to  47°  north  latitude, 
and  Americans  knew  how  cold  and  rugged  and  inho&pitable 
were  these  northern  regions.  Lewis  and  Clark  reported 
that  the  Western  country  was  mountainous  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  While  Americans  from 
their  knowledge  of  the  northern  counties  of  New  Hamp 
shire  and  Maine  did  not  esteem  a  mountain  region  north 
of  45°  of  any  practical  value,  nevertheless,  for  the  sake 
of  showing  the  world  that  they  would  not  yield  anything 
to  Great  Britain,  they  were  determined  to  run  the  bound 
ary  line  across  the  mountainous  regions  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  along  the  parallel  of  49°,  which  they  thought  France 
and  Great  Britain  had  agreed  upon  in  1718,  and  which 

82 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  had  agreed  upon  as 
far  as  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1818.  This  was  four  de 
grees,  some  two  hundred  and  forty  miles,  north  of  the 
Vermont  line.  In  the  mountain  region  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest  what  possible  object  could  there  be  in  going 
still  farther  north?  Hence,  our  government  offered  Great 
Britain  the  49th  parallel  as  the  boundary  line  from  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Pacific  Coast  at  the  Convention 
of  1818.  But  Great  Britain  would  not  agree  to  run  the 
boundary  along  that  line  any  farther  than  the  Eocky  Moun 
tains.  This  line  was  accepted  to  the  mountains  and  a 
clause  written  into  the  treaty  whereby  the  disputed  territory 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  to  be  jointly  occupied 
by  both  nations  for  ten  years,  without  jeopardizing  the 
claims  of  either.  In  order  to  assert  ourselves  against 
Great  Britain,  and  especially  to  offset  the  extreme  British 
claim  to  the  territory  between  the  49th  parallel  and  the 
Columbia  River,  Richard  Rush,  our  minister  to  Great 
Britain,  in  1824  set  up  the  claim  that  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  extended  as  far  north  as  51  degrees;  but 
modified  this  to  a  claim  for  the  49th  parallel.  On  June  19, 
1826,  Henry  Clay,  then  secretary  of  state,  wrote  to  Albert 
Gallatin,  our  minister  to  Great  Britain,  directing  him  to 
propose  the  termination  of  joint  occupancy  and  offer  lati 
tude  49°  as  an  ultimatum.  But  Great  Britain  rejected 
the  offer. 

A  revelation  of  the  ignorance  of  intelligent  Americans 
of  the  value  of  the  Oregon  Country  is  furnished  by  the 
following  facts:  May  22,  1818,  President  Monroe  ap 
pointed  Albert  Gallatin  and  Richard  Rush  to  represent 
the  United  States  in  fixing  the  boundary  line  between  the 
two  countries.  These  men  were  instructed  to  propose  the 

83 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

extension  of  the  49th  parallel  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  But 
John  Quincy  Adams,  secretary  of  state,  wrote  them :  "Save 
pretensions,  there  is  no  object  to  any  party  worth  con 
tending  for."2  In  February,  1825,  Senator  Dickerson, 
of  New  Jersey,  said:  "Oregon  can  never  be  one  of  the 
United  States.  If  we  extend  our  laws  to  it,  we  must 
consider  it  as  a  colony."3  Again  he  showed  that  it  would 
take  four  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  to  make  the  journey 
from  Oregon  to  Washington  and  return,  and  would  cost 
each  representative  $3,720  for  the  round  trip.4  Congress 
man  Tracy,  of  New  York,  said:  "No  scheme  can  appear 
more  visionary  than  that  of  an  internal  commerce  between 
the  Hudson  and  Columbia.  The  God  of  nature  has  in 
terposed  obstacles  to  this  connection,  which  neither  the 
enterprise  nor  the  science  of  this  or  any  other  age  can 
overcome."5  Senator  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  in 
1845,  asked:  "Are  our  Western  brethren  straitened  for 
elbow  room,  or  likely  to  be  for  a  thousand  years?  .  .  . 
The  West  has  no  interest,  the  country  has  no  interest,  in 
extending  our  territorial  possessions."6 

Thus  our  statesmen  stood  for  a  boundary  line  along  the 
49th  parallel  because  they  felt  sure  that  this  gave  us  all 
the  land  on  the  north  Pacific  Coast  which  could  possibly 
be  of  any  value ;  and  we  consented  to  the  joint  occupation, 
from  1818  onward,  of  the  entire  region  west  of  the  Rocky 


1  Bancroft,  History  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  vol.  ii,  p.  336. 

•Quoted  by  Bancroft,  History  of  the  Northwest  Coast,  vol. 
ii,  p.  361. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  425,  note. 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  345-346,  note. 

•Quoted  by  Barrows,  Oregon,  the  Struggle  for  Possession, 
p.  200. 

84 

• 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

Mountains,  because  we  thought  the  territory  probably 
worthless  and  because  we  felt  confident  that  later  we  could 
maintain  our  claim  as  far  north  as  the  49th  parallel  if  we 
so  desired. 

A  second  fact  which  more  than  any  other  prevented  the 
United  States  claiming  all  that  she  might  have  claimed 
under  our  ownership  of  the  French  and  Spanish  claims 
and  our  own  discoveries,  was  that  ours  was  the  first  really 
prominent  attempt  in  all  history  to  establish  a  republic, 
and  that  Europe  was  skeptical  of  the  experiment.  All 
Americans  believed  that  the  real  danger  to  the  republic 
would  arise  from  the  falling  apart  of  widely  separated 
States  with  diverse  and  even  antagonistic  interests.  These 
fears  were  by  no  means  wholly  speculative  but  grew  out 
of  the  dangers  threatening  the  republic  in  the  Whisky 
Insurrection,  the  Burr  conspiracy,  etc.  Hence,  as  con 
servative  patriots,  our  statesmen  were  much  more  anxious 
that  the  republic  with  its  existing  immense  reaches  of 
territory  should  be  consolidated  into  a  strong  nation  than 
that  we  should  strive  to  enlarge  our  borders  by  semimili- 
tary  conquests.  Leaders  in  both  houses  of  Congress  who 
favored  the  acquisition  of  the  Oregon  Country,  at  first 
contemplated  the  planting  therein  of  an  American  colony 
which  should  later  become  a  second  republic,  rather  than 
the  incorporation  of  that  distant  land  as  an  integral  por 
tion  of  the  United  States.  When  Astor  communicated  to 
President  Jefferson  his  plan  to  establish  a  trading  post 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  the  President  replied  that 
he  "considered,  as  a  good  public  acquisition,  the  com 
mencement  of  a  settlement  on  that  part  of  the  west  coast 
of  America,  and  looked  forward,  with  gratification,  to  the 
time  when  its  descendants  shall  have  spread  themselves 

85 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

through  the  whole  length  of  that  coast,  covering  it  with 
free  and  independent  Americans,  unconnected  with  us 
but  by  ties  of  blood  and  interest,  and  enjoying,  like  us, 
the  rights  of  self-government."7  It  is  clear  from  this 
sentence  that  President  Jefferson  did  not  at  that  time 
contemplate  the  extension  of  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  over  the  Pacific  Coast,  but,  rather,  the  formation 
of  another  republic  "unconnected  with  us  but  by  the  ties 
of  blood  and  interest."  Again,  Congressman  Baylies,  of 
Massachusetts,  during  the  second  session  of  Congress  of 
1822,  replied  to  the  objections  made  on  the  floor  that  our 
republic  could  never  extend  so  far  west  as  the  Columbia 
Eiver  by  advocating,  not  the  formation  of  a  territorial 
government  for  the  country,  but  an  American  colony ;  and 
Congressman  Floyd's  bill  of  January  19,  1824,  provided 
for  a  military  colony  for  the  Oregon  Country.8  H.  H. 
Spalding,  the  American  Board  missionary  at  Lapwai, 
Idaho,  wrote  as  late  as  April  7,  1846 :  "Soon  this  little, 
obscure  point  upon  the  map  of  the  United  States  will  be 
come  a  second  North  American  Republic,  her  commerce 
whitening  every  sea  and  her  crowded  ports  fanned  by  the 
flags  of  every  nation."9  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  The  Winning 
of  the  West,  speaking  of  our  purchase  in  May,  1803,  of  the 
Louisiana  Territory,  says:  "Napoleon  forced  Madison  and 
Livingston  to  become  the  reluctant  purchasers  not  merely 
of  New  Orleans,  but  of  all  the  immense  territory  which 


7  Quoted  by  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  i, 
p.  41. 

8  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  pp.  629- 
631. 

•Quoted  by   Bourne,    Essays   in   Historical   Criticism,   pp. 
18,  19. 

86 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

stretched  vaguely  northwestward  to  the  Pacific.  Jefferson 
at  moments  felt  a  desire  to  get  all  this  western  territory; 
but  he  was  too  timid  and  vacillating.  .  .  .  Madison  felt 
a  strong  disinclination  to  see  the  national  domain  extend 
west  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  he  so  instructed  Monroe  and 
Livingston."10  Again  Mr.  Roosevelt  writes :  "The  Federal 
ists  of  the  Northeast,  both  in  the  Middle  States  and  in 
New  England,  at  this  juncture  behaved  far  worse  than  the 
Jeffersonian  Republicans.  .  .  .  The  Northeastern  Fed 
eralists,  though  with  many  exceptions,  did  as  a  whole 
stand  as  the  opponents  of  national  growth.  .  .  .  They 
showed  that  jealous  fear  of  western  growth  which  was  the 
most  marked  defect  of  Northeastern  public  sentiment  until 
past  the  middle  of  the  present  century."11  The  conspiracy 
of  Aaron  Burr  apparently  justified  the  fears  of  the  people 
in  the  older  sections  of  the  country  that  the  people  of  the 
West  would  establish  an  independent  republic.  Even 
General  James  Wilkinson,  at  that  time  head  of  the  United 
States  army  and  governor  of  Upper  Louisiana,  was  in 
volved  for  a  time  in  Burr's  plot;12  but  seeing  that  it  was 
doomed  to  failure,  he  withdrew  and  revealed  the  whole 
scheme  to  President  Jefferson.  Mr.  Roosevelt  maintains 
that  the  significance  of  Burr's  conspiracy  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  one  of  several  similar  escapades  which 
'indicated  a  general  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  frontiers 
men  at  that  time  to  found  a  western  republic.  Indeed, 

"Roosevelt,  Winning  of  the  West,  part  vi,  pp.  208-209. 
But  see  for  a  juster  view  of  Jefferson,  Bruce,  Romance  of 
American  Expansion,  pp.  24-50. 

11  Ibid.,  part  vi,  p.  211. 

u  Lamb's  Biographical  Dictionary  of  the  United  States,  vol. 
vii,  p.  595,  596. 

87 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Sam  Houston  a  little  later  did  form  an  independent  re 
public  out  of  that  portion  of  Mexico  called  Texas. 

This  attitude  of  the  western  frontiersmen  is  explained 
but  not  justified  by  the  fact  that  Quincy  and  other  oppo 
nents  of  expansion  went  so  far  as  to  threaten  a  dissolution 
of  the  Union  on  their  part  on  the  ground  that  the  contract 
establishing  the  nation  was  being  violated  by  the  addi 
tion  of  so  much  territory  in  the  West  and  South.  These 
known  dangers  and  these  serious  conditions  prevailing  in 
the  Northeast  and  the  Southwest  led  even  General  Jackson 
in  1825  to  express  the  opinion  that  our  safety  as  a  republic 
lay  in  a  compact  territory  and  a  dense  population.  Also 
Senator  Benton  in  1825,  despite  his  hatred  of  Great 
Britain  and  his  larger  knowledge  and  greater  appreciation 
of  the  West,  in  view  of  the  danger  threatening  a  republic 
extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  said  in  one  of 
his  speeches:  "The  ridge  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  may  be 
named  as  the  convenient,  natural,  and  everlasting  barrier. 
Along  this  ridge  the  western  limits  of  the  republic  should 
be  drawn,  and  the  statue  of  the  fabled  god  Terminus 
should  be  erected  on  its  highest  peak,  never  to  be  thrown 
down."  Fortunately,  Senator  Benton  later  outgrew  this 
narrow  conception  of  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States. 
Here,  then,  were  the  two  fundamental  considerations  which 
determined  American  policy  on  the  Pacific  Coast  during 
the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth  century:  first,  an  entire 
and  inevitable  ignorance  of  the  value  of  the  country  north 
of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude  or  even  of  the  45th ;  second, 
a  grave  fear  that  the  republic  would  fall  to  pieces  of  its 
own  weight  if  extended  over  boundless  stretches  of  terri 
tory  and  made  up  of  sections  with  diverse  and  conflicting 
interests. 

88 

0 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

But  despite  the  lack  of  knowledge  by  American  states 
men  of  the  fine  climate  and  the  natural  value  of  the  North 
west  Coast,  the  United  States  government  was  not  so  negli 
gent  of  this  western  territory  as  some  advocates  of  the 
missionary  claim  to  the  preservation  of  Oregon  maintain. 
The  following  summary  shows  that  whatever  the  influences 
which  contributed  to  these  actions,  some  statesmen  were 
far  more  active  in  regard  to  our  Northwest  boundary  than 
most  writers  upon  the  Oregon  question  have  realized : 

1.  President  Jefferson  asked  for  an  appropriation  for 
the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition,  which  was  granted,  and 
the  expedition  was   sent  in  1804-06  and  explored  these 
northwestern  regions  as  far  as  the  Pacific  Coast. 

2.  In  1814  the  government  published  a  partial  report 
of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  which  awakened  interest 
in  the  Oregon  question. 

3.  At  the  Convention  of  1818,  as  already  noted,  our 
government  proposed  that  the  49th  parallel  be  the  bound 
ary  line  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

4.  December  19,  1820,  Congressman  Floyd,  of  Virginia, 
made  the  first  motion  in  the  House  for  a  committee  of 
inquiry  into  "the  expediency  of  occupying  the  Columbia 
River  and  the  territory  of  the  United   States   adjacent 
thereto."     The  motion  prevailed,  and  Floyd,  Metcalf  of 
Kentucky,  and  Swearingen  of  Virginia  were  appointed. 

5.  January  25,   1821,  Floyd's  committee  reported,  re 
viewing   the  history  of   the  discovery  of   the   northwest 
Pacific    Coast,   maintaining   the   validity   of   the    United 
States's  title  to  sovereignty,  the  value  of  the  coast  for 
trade,  the  possibilities  of  trade  with  China,  and  presenting 
a  bill  to  occupy  the  territory,  extinguish  the  Indian  title, 
and  establish  a  stable  government.     The  bill  passed  the 

89 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

second  reading,  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  and  held  over  to  December  10,  1821,  when  a  second 
committee,  consisting  of  Floyd,  Baylies  of  Massachusetts, 
and  Scott  of  Missouri,  was  appointed. 

6.  January  18,  1822,  the  second  committee  reported  a 
bill  similar  to  the  first  one.     The  bill  passed  the  second 
reading  and  came  up  for  discussion  in  the  second  session 
of  Congress  for  1822.    On  December  17,  1822,  Floyd  made 
the  first   Congressional   speech   on   the   Oregon   question, 
which  is  reported  to  have  fallen  flat  on  the  members. 
Then  Baylies  spoke,  showing  the  value  of  the  fish  and 
lumber  trade  and  advocated  the  establishment  of  an  Ameri 
can  colony.     A  general  debate  followed  and  the  bill  was 
lost  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  to  sixty-one. 

7.  At  the  next  session  of  Congress,  in  1823,  another 
committee  of  seven  was  appointed  with  Floyd  as  chairman. 
January  19,  1824,  a  bill  was  introduced  authorizing  the 
erection  of  a  territorial  government  and  granting  a  section 
of  land  to  each  head  of  a  household  who  settled  in  the 
Oregon  territory.     This  bill,  after  discussion  at  intervals, 
passed  the  House  December  23,  1824,  by  a  vote  of  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  to  fifty-seven,  and  was  sent  to  the 
Senate  February  25,  1825,  where  it  was  tabled  after  dis 
cussion. 

8.  In  1824  the  United  States  concluded  a  treaty  with 
Eussia  fixing  the  southern  limit  of  all  claims  by  her  as 
against  the  United  States  at  54°  40';  before  this  treaty 
Eussia  had  claimed  the  territory  as  far  south  as  51°. 

9.  The  United  States  offered  the  49th  parallel  again  in 
1824,  but  the  offer  was  rejected. 

10.  In  1826  our  government  again  proposed  the  49th 
parallel  as  the  boundary  line ;  again  rejected. 

90 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

11.  Great  Britain  having  rejected  our  offer,  an  agree 
ment  for  joint  occupation  of  the  territory  for  an  indeter 
minate  time  was  renewed  August  6,  1827.    Indeterminate 
occupation  was  by  this  agreement  accompanied  by  the 
provision  that  joint  occupation  could  be  terminated  by 
either  party  giving  one  year's  notice. 

12.  In  August,  1831,  Edward  Livingston,  secretary  of 
state,  directed  Martin  Van  Buren,  our  minister  to  Great 
Britain,  to  open  a  discussion  with  a  view  of  settling  the 
Oregon  question.    Nothing  of  importance  came  from  this. 

13.  In  response  to  information  which  Lee  sent  back  to 
Washington  in  1834-35,  and  especially  to  representations 
made  by  Hall  J.  Kelley,  Mr.  William  J.  Slacum,  connected 
with  our  naval  service,  was  sent  by  the  government  to 
visit  the  Columbia  River  region.     Slacum  arrived  Decem 
ber  22,  1835,  in  the  brig  Loriot.     During  his  five  or  six 
weeks5  stay  he  spent  most  of  the  time  with  Jason  Lee  in 
the  Willamette  Valley.     With  Lee's  aid  he  compiled  the 
names  of  all  the  white  settlers  in  the  valley.     Lee  wrote 
a  petition  for  the  establishment  of  a  territorial  govern 
ment  for  Oregon  by  the  United  States,  and  Slacum  went 
with  Lee  and  helped  secure  the   signatures   of   the  ex- 
employees  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  the  petition 
by  assuring  them  that  the  government  would  recognize 
and  validate  their  titles  to  their  farms.     Slacum  carried 
this  petition  back  and  presented  it  to  Congress  in  1837. 
On  information  largely  furnished   by  Lee,   Mr.   Slacum 
prepared  a  very  favorable  report  of  the  extent  and  value 
of  the  country.13    Mr.  Slacum  also  encouraged  the  organ- 

11  See  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  ...  in 
Relation  to  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

91 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

ization  of  the  Willamette  Cattle  Company,  invested  some 
money  for  himself  through  Lee,  loaned  Lee  money  to 
invest  for  the  Methodist  Mission  in  the  Company,  and 
carried  Ewing  Young,  P.  L.  Edwards,  and  the  employees 
of  the  Company  in  his  brig  to  San  Francisco  without 
charge  save  for  food.  Slacum's  report  helped  to  create 
public  sentiment,  and  especially  to  awaken  senators  and 
representatives  to  the  value  and  importance  of  the  country. 
The  facts  which  Lee  provided  in  earlier  letters  and  in 
Slacum's  report  in  regard  to  the  climate  and  the  extent 
of  the  fertile  lands  of  Oregon  were  a  revelation  to  Congress 
and  did  much  to  shape  its  subsequent  action  in  regard  to 
Oregon. 

14.  February  7,  1838,  Senator  Linn,  of  Missouri,  intro 
duced  a  bill  for  the  occupation  of  the  Columbia  Eiver  by 
a  military  force,  for  the  establishment  of  a  port  of  entry, 
and  the  extension  of  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United  States 
to  the  Oregon  Country.    In  his  speech  he  showed  the  vast 
sources  of  wealth  in  that  country  awaiting  development 
under  the  protection  of  our  government.     The  bill  was 
referred  to  a  select  committee  of  which  Linn  was  chairman 
and  an  elaborate  report  was  presented  to  the  Senate  on 
June  6.    Despite  the  efforts  of  Benton  and  Linn,  the  bill 
failed  to  pass  the  Senate. 

15.  December  11,  1838,  Linn  presented  a  second  bill  for 
the  occupation  of  Oregon  and  the  protection  of  the  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States  residing  there.     Fearing  that 
the  success  of  this  measure  would  work  to  our  disadvantage 
in  negotiations  pending  with  Great  Britain,  the  bill  was 
finally  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations; 
but  five  thousand  copies  of  the  bill  and  of  information 
relating  to  Oregon  were  printed  for  public  distribution. 

92 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

16.  Early  in   1839  a  resolution  was  being  considered 
by    the    House    Committee    on    Foreign   Affairs   for    the 
occupation  of  Oregon.     The  Committee  did  not  recom 
mend  the  establishment  of  a  territorial  government  because 
they  were  "anxious  to  observe  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
treaties  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain."14 
The  report  was  accompanied  by  communications  from  the 
secretary  of  war  and  the  secretary  of  the  navy,  Lee's  letter 
to  Gushing  and  the  memorial  which  Lee  brought  from 
Oregon,  Slacum's  report,  memoirs  from  Wyeth  and  Kelley, 
a  letter  from  the  secretary  of  the  Oregon  Provisional  Emi 
gration  Society,  organized  at  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  through 
letters  by  Cyrus  Shepard  and  the  personal  influence  of 
Lee.     Ten  thousand  copies  of  this  report  with  its  illu 
minating  documents  were  printed  and  spread  broadcast, 
and  they  contributed  largely  to  the  emigration  to  Oregon. 

17.  December   18,  1839,  Linn  called  the  attention  of 
the  Senate  to  a  series  of  resolutions  relating  to  Oregon 
which  were  referred  to  Linn's  committee.    The  committee 
offered  March  31,  1840,  a  substitute  bill  asserting  the  title 
of  the  United  States  to  Oregon,  authorizing  the  President 
to  take  necessary  measures  for  the  protection  of  persons 
and  property  of  the  United  States  residing  in  that  terri 
tory,   and   granting   each   white   male   inhabitant   of   the 
territory  over  eighteen  years  of  age,  one  thousand  acres 
of  land.     Bancroft  speaks  of  this  liberal  grant  of  land 
being  the  chief  feature  of  the  bill  and  as  being  the  sug 
gestion  of  Jason  Lee.15     This  bill  of  1839,  with  its  pro 
visions  for  a  grant  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  to  each 
male  inhabitant  eighteen  years  old,  perhaps  more   than 

"Quoted  by  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  373. 
15  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  374. 

93 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

any  other  single  cause  created  the  emigrations  to  Oregon 
of  1841-43. 

18.  In  1838  the  government,  influenced  by  these  reports, 
sent  out  an  exploring  expedition  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
squadron  consisted  of  two  sloops  of  war,  a  brig,  a  ship, 
and  two  tenders,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Charles 
Wilkes,  who  during  the  Civil  War  startled  the  South,  the 
United  States,  and  Great  Britain,  by  seizing  Mason  and 
Slidell  on  the  British  mailship  Trent.  The  company  con 
sisted,  in  addition  to  the  members  of  the  navy,  of  several 
naturalists  and  botanists,  a  mineralogist,  taxidermist, 
philologist,  etc.,  and  the  cruise  occupied  four  years.16  It 
made  a  thorough  exploration  of  the  Northwest  Coast  and 
of  the  Columbia  River  region ;  and  the  report  added  largely 
to  the  scientific  knowledge  of  the  regions  visited.  It  is 
interesting  in  this  connection  to  note  that  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Richmond,  of  Nisqually,  and  Captain  Wilkes  celebrated 
the  Fourth  of  July  at  the  Nisqually  Mission  in  1841,  at 
which  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  officers,  the  mission 
aries,  the  ships'  officers,  one  hundred  marines,  and  four 
hundred  Indians  constituted  the  audience.  The  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  was  read  by  a  sergeant  of  marines, 
the  Scripture  by  Captain  Wilkes,  the  prayer  was  offered 
by  Dr.  Richmond,  the  "Star-Spangled  Banner"  and  "My 
Country,  'Tis  of  Thee,"  were  sung  under  the  lead  of  the 
marines,  and  the  oration  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Richmond, 
in  which  he  uttered  the  sentence :  "The  whole  of  this 
magnificent  region  of  country,  so  rich  in  the  bounties  of 
nature,  is  destined  to  become  a  part  of  the  American  re 
public."  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  expected  to  attend  the 
celebration.  Perhaps  it  was  just  as  well  for  his  peace  of 

"Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  398. 

94 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

mind  that  he  did  not  reach  the  Fort  in  time  to  attend  the 
first  celebration  of  Independence  Day  ever  held  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  on  territory  which  he  confidently 
claimed  for  the  British  government.17 

19.  In  1839,  while  Lee  was  still  in  the  East  securing 
recruits  for  Oregon,  the  Rev.  David  Leslie  prepared  an 
important  petition  or  memorial  to  the  government  signed 
by  himself  and  some   seventy  others,   setting  forth   the 
great  value  of  the  country  and  the  necessity  for  the  im 
mediate  extension  of  the  authority  of  the  United  States. 
This  was  the  third  petition  for  the  extension  of  the  au 
thority  of  the  United  States  over  Oregon — all  of  them 
framed  and  forwarded  by  the  Methodists.     Through  the 
general  information  now  reaching  Washington,  of  which 
the  letters  and  representations  of  Lee  and  the  petition  of 
the  settlers  were  a  part,  the  government  in   1842   sent 
Lieutenant  John  C.  Fremont  to  select  sites  for  military 
posts  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
It  was  on  this  tour  that  Fremont  explored  the  South  Pass 
— the  eastern  gateway  of  the  Rocky  Mountains — and  in 
1843  visited  the  Pacific  Coast,  where  he  was  the  guest  of 
the  Methodist  missionaries  at  The  Dalles.     Fremont  made 
a  report  which  was  of  much  scientific  value  and  doubtless 
helped   the   administration   to   stand   firm   for   the   49th 
parallel  in  the  treaty  of  1846,  although  the  report  was 
not  published  in  time  to  help  in  the  campaign  of  1844. 

20.  December  7,  1841,  the  President  and  secretary  of 
war  recommended  the  establishment  of  military  posts  as 

"Wilkes'  Narrative  embraces  three  volumes.  Our  sketch 
is  a  brief  summary  of  Chapter  XL  of  Clarke's  Pioneer  Days 
of  Oregon  History.  The  account  of  the  celebration  is  from 
Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  pp.  118,  119. 

95 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains.  In  accordance  with 
this  recommendation,  but  advancing  beyond  the  Presi 
dent's  recommendation,  Senator  Linn  introduced  a  bill 
December  16,  1841,  for  the  occupation  and  settlement  of 
Oregon  and  a  grant  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
land  to  every  white  male  inhabitant  eighteen  years  or  over 
who  should  cultivate  the  land  for  five  years.  This  pro 
vision  was  along  the  line  of  Jason  Lee's  recommendation 
to  Caleb  Gushing,  and  with  his  recommendation  embodied 
in  Linn's  bill  of  1840;  it  kept  alive  the  expectation  of  a 
land  grant  to  every  emigrant  to  Oregon  and  thus  encour 
aged  the  emigrations  of  1842  and  1843.  The  bill  also  pro 
vided  for  the  extension  of  the  civil  and  criminal  jurisdic 
tion  of  Iowa  over  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Missouri 
River  and  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  the  northern 
boundary  of  Texas,  and  also  over  all  the  country  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  between  latitude  42°  and  49°,  but 
provided  for  the  delivery  of  criminal  British  subjects  to 
the  Canadian  authorities.  The  arrival  of  Lord  Ashburton, 
the  British  plenipotentiary,  led  to  the  postponement  of 
the  consideration  of  the  bill  in  order  that  Mr.  Webster 
might  be  unembarrassed  in  his  negotiations  with  Lord 
Ashburton  over  the  boundary  line.  The  treaty  framed  by 
Webster  and  Lord  Ashburton  disappointed  the  nation  by 
failing  to  touch  the  Oregon  question.  Resolutions  from 
the  assemblies  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Missouri  were  sent 
to  Congress  urging  the  immediate  occupation  of  the  coun 
try  by  the  United  States  as  far  north  as  49°.  Petitions 
from  Alabama,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  New 
Hampshire,  New  York,  Ohio,  and  the  "Mississippi  Valley," 
poured  into  Congress  calling  for  action.  Senator  Linn 
now  pressed  his  bill  with  great  ardor,  and  the  debate  en- 

96 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

listed  the  best  talent  of  the  Senate — Benton,  Buchanan, 
Linn,  Phelps,  Sevier,  Walker,  and  Young  favoring  it, 
and  Archer,  Berrien,  Calhoun,  Choate,  Crittenden,  and 
McDuffie  opposing  it.  It  finally  passed  the  Senate  Febru 
ary  3,  1843,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-four  to  twenty-two,  but 
failed  in  the  House.18 

21.  In    1842    President    Tyler    appointed    Dr.    Elijah 
White,  sub-Indian  agent  for  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.    This  was  the  first  attempt  of  the  government 
at  Washington  to  establish  civil   authority  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,   although   British   authority  had  been 
extended  over  British  subjects  and  Indians  as  early  as 
1821. 

22.  Meantime    the    failure    of    the    Webster-Ashburton 
treaty  to  include  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question 
led  Great  Britain  to  instruct  her  minister  to  the  United 
States,  Mr.  H.  S.  Fox,  to  bring  up  the  question  for  friendly 
adjustment.     President  Tyler  in  his  message  to  Congress 
of  December,  1843,  gave  the  impression  that  the  United 
States  was  forcing  Great  Britain  to  action,  whereas  Lord 
Aberdeen  observed,  "It  would  have  been  more  candid  had 
he  stated  that  he  had  already  received  from  the  British 
government   a   pressing   overture,  .  .  .  and   that   he   had 
responded  to  the  overture  in  the  same  conciliatory  spirit 
in  which  it  was  made."19 

23.  This  brings  us  to  a  remarkable  and  little  known 
episode  in  the  history  of  our  country.     In  1842  President 
Tyler  and  his  secretary  of  state,  Daniel  Webster,  formu- 

18  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  378-380.    See  p.  380, 
note. 

19  Smith,    England   and   America   After   Independence,   pp. 
290,  291. 

97 


THE  OKEGON"  MISSIONS 

lated  a  plan  for  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question  by 
the  United  States's  acceptance  of  the  Columbia  Kiver  as 
the  boundary  in  return  for  Great  Britain's  consent  to 
Mexico's  surrender  to  the  United  States  of  all  her  terri 
tory  from  the  42d  parallel  down  to  36°  30';  and  also 
to  Mexico's  release  of  all  claims  on  Texas,  which  had 
established  its  independence.  Lyon  G.  Tyler,  son  of  Presi 
dent  Tyler,  his  official  secretary  at  this  time  and  his 
authoritative  biographer,  thus  writes:  "Even  as  early  as 
the  special  mission  of  Lord  Ashburton  the  question  had 
been  put,  whether  if  Mexico  would  concede  six  degrees 
south  of  our  boundary  of  forty-two  degrees  across  the 
continent,  so  as  to  include  the  ports  of  San  Francisco  and 
Monterey,  England  would  make  any  objection  to  it,  and 
Lord  Ashburton  thought  she  would  not."20  The  plan,  or, 
as  it  deserves  to  be  called,  the  plot,  is  narrated  at  length 
in  the  biography,  but  L.  G.  Tyler  thus  sums  up  the  matter 
in  the  Magazine  of  American  History:  "The  policy  of 
the  administration  was  to  use  Oregon  as  the  handmaid  to 
California  and  Texas.  .  .  .  Writing  to  Webster,  the  Presi 
dent  discloses  the  scheme  of  a  tripartite  treaty  between 
the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  and  Mexico,  whereby 
Great  Britain  was  to  have  the  line  of  the  Columbia  Eiver, 
we  surrendering  most  of  Washington  Territory,  the  north 
ern  half  of  what  was  then  Oregon,  and  taking  in  exchange 
the  much  greater  and  more  fertile  equivalent  of  California, 
down  to  36°  30'.  At  the  same  time  the  independence  of 
Texas  was  to  be  recognized  by  Mexico.  Such  a  treaty 
would  satisfy  all  sections  of  the  Union.  Texas  would 
reconcile  all  to  California,  and  California  to  the  line  pro- 

80  Tyler,  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  vol.  ii,  p.  260. 

98 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

posed  for  Oregon.  As  Mexico  was  at  the  time  a  mere 
colony  of  Great  Britain  and  largely  in  debt  to  her  capi 
talists,  the  assent  of  Great  Britain  was  all  that  was  neces 
sary  to  the  treaty,  and  this  the  latter  was  desirous,  nay, 
anxious  to  give.  To  accomplish  this  policy  the  President 
contemplated  sending  Webster  to  England  on  a  special 
mission,  but  the  subject  halted  before  the  Senate  Com 
mittee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  Congress  expired  before 
taking  action  on  the  mission.  The  sole  cause  of  failure 
lay  with  Congress,  which  was  as  impotent  a  body  of  men 
at  this  period,  consuming  the  hours  in  shameless  invectives 
against  the  President  and  his  secretary  of  state,  and  re 
sorting  to  every  endeavor  to  embarrass  the  government."21 
Webster  was  anxious  to  avoid  a  war  with  Great  Britain 
over  the  Oregon  boundary  because  he  knew  that  such  a 
war  would  destroy  New  England  shipping  and  fall  with 
great  severity  upon  his  constituents.  Besides,  while  Web 
ster  was  provincial  in  his  attitude  toward  the  West,  he 
did  not  share  American  animosities  against  Great  Britain, 
but  had  a  just  appreciation  of  her  institutions.  Unfortu 
nately,  this  was  not  the  first  or  the  last  time  in  history 
that  strong  nations  have  tried  to  profit  by  mutually  de 
spoiling  a  weak  nation.  The  whole  plot  is  fully  confirmed 
by  John  Quincy  Adams's  Memoirs.22  Owing  to  the  pres 
sure  of  the  Massachusetts  Whigs,23  who  had  renounced 
Tyler  and  desired  Webster  to  run  as  the  Whig  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  and  possibly  to  Webster's  uneasiness 
of  conscience  over  a  proposed  compromise  which  would  do 

21  The  Magazine  of  American  History,  vol.  xi,  pp.  168-169. 
"Adams,  Memoirs,  vol.  xi,  pp.  327,  340,  347,  351,  355. 
"Wilson,  The  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  pp.  207-209 
(Sketch  of  Tyler  by  John  Fiske). 

99 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

a  grave  injustice  to  Mexico  and  would  give  the  South  the 
immense  region  of  Texas  for  the  spread  of  slavery,  Web 
ster  resigned  from  Tyler's  Cabinet  May  8,  1843,,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Abel  P.  Upshur  June  24,  1843,  Hugh  S. 
Legare  and  William  S.  Derrick  having  filled  the  office  in 
the  interim. 

The  next  point  which  is  clear  is  that  between  the  failure 
of  Tyler's  compromise,  March  3,  1843,  and  October  9, 
1843,  Tyler  changed  his  mind.  On  the  latter  date  he 
directed  Upshur  to  write  Edward  Everett,  our  minister  to 
Great  Britain,  as  follows:  "The  offer  of  the  forty-ninth 
parallel  of  latitude,  although  it  has  been  once  rejected, 
may  be  again  tendered,  together  with  the  right  of  navi 
gating  the  Columbia  River  upon  equitable  terms;  beyond 
this  the  President  is  not  prepared  to  go."24  L.  G.  Tyler 
as  quoted  above  claims  that  the  compromise  failed  through 
the  failure  of  Congress  to  act  upon  his  father's  plan  be 
fore  its  adjournment  March  3,  1843.  But  Adams's 
Memoirs  show  that  Webster  was  still  active  on  the  compro 
mise  and  approached  General  Almonte  on  it  about  April 
1,  1843.25  May  16,  1843,  is  the  latest  date  at  which  we 
can  find  traces  of  compromise  activities. 

While  Lyon  G.  Tyler's  statement  that  Mexico  was  at 
that  time  a  mere  colony  of  Great  Britain  is  very  in 
accurate,  it  is  true  that  Great  Britain  opposed  the  aliena 
tion  of  any  land  by  Mexico  on  the  ground  that  the  Mexi 
can  government  and  people  owed  British  citizens  large 
sums  of  money.  It  is  quite  possible  also  that  British 
statesmen,  as  well  as  Americans,  were  still  influenced  by 
the  animosities  of  1776  and  1812,  and  that  British  states- 

24  Quoted  by  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  197. 
"Adams,  Memoirs,  vol.  xi,  pp.  340,  347,  351,  355. 

100 


THE  UNITED  STATES'  GOVERNMENT 

men  in  general  did  not  desire  the  enlargement  of  the  terri 
tory  of  the  United  States.  Although  Texas  revolted  and 
set  up  a  republic  in  1835,  and  achieved  her  independence 
in  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  that  year,  and  was  gradually 
recognized  by  other  governments,  Great  Britain  denied 
her  recognition  until  1842.  It  is  true  that  from  1839  on, 
Great  Britain  believed  that  both  Texas  and  Mexico  had 
a  better  prospect  of  avoiding  aggression  by  the  United 
States  if  they  were  united  in  the  bonds  of  friendship  rather 
than  at  war;  and  she  urged  Mexico  to  recognize  the  inde 
pendence  of  Texas  and  make  a  friendly  alliance  with  her. 
On  November  13,  1840,  a  treaty  recognizing  the  independ 
ence  of  Texas  was  signed  by  the  British  representative 
in  Texas;26  but  as  Mexico  sturdily  refused  to  concede 
the  loss  of  this  great  territory,  Great  Britain  refused  to 
ratify  this  treaty.  But  Lyon  G.  Tyler  says  that  his 
father's  proposal  to  Great  Britain  to  yield  to  her  the  entire 
Puget  Sound  region,  which  was  made  through  Webster 
and  Lord  Ashburton  early  in  1842,  was  favorably  received. 
It  is  possible  that  Great  Britain's  recognition  of  the  inde 
pendence  of  Texas,  June  28,  1842,27  was  a  preparation  for 
her  consent  to  the  union  of  Texas  with  the  United  States. 

Dunning  mentions  a  fact  which  amply  accounts  for 
Tyler's  change  of  policy.  He  writes :  "The  first  diplomatic 
representative  sent  by  Great  Britain  to  Texas  was  an 
ardent  abolitionist,  who  began  unofficial  efforts  to  bring 
about  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  Texas  through 
money  loaned  by  Great  Britain.  ...  In  the  course  of  1843 
Lord  Aberdeen  committed  his  government  definitely  to 


M  Garrison,  The  American  Nation,  vol.  xvii,  p.  96. 
17  Ibid.,  vol.  xvii,  p.  96. 

101 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

the  policy  of  promoting  abolition  in  Texas."28  August  3, 
1843,  Upshur,  our  secretary  of  state,  officially  communi 
cated  that  information  to  our  charge  d'affaires  in  Mexico. 
Lord  Aberdeen,  hearing  this  report,  sent  a  dispatch  De 
cember  26,  1843,  to  the  British  minister  at  Washington, 
contradicting  the  statement  and  declaring  that  England 
had  no  intention  of  interfering  with  slavery  in  Texas,  but 
would  leave  that  country  free  to  make  her  own  "unfettered 
arrangements"  concerning  her  own  affairs.29  But  Tyler 
believed  the  report  of  his  secret  agent,  and  it  was  this 
belief  which  led  to  his  abandonment  of  compromise  in  the 
summer  of  1843,  and  to  his  message  to  Congress  in  De 
cember,  stating,  "The  United  States  have  always  contended 
that  their  rights  appertain  to  the  entire  region  of  country 
.  .  .  embraced  within  42°  and  54°  40'  of  north  latitude." 
Professor  Garrison  writes:  "Putting  all  things  together, 
it  seems  certain  that  the  information  possessed  by  the 
department  of  state  at  Washington  in  the  summer  of  1843 
was  such  as  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  British  influence 
was  working  strongly  in  Texas,  and  that  it  was  one  aim 
of  Great  Britain  to  secure  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  that 
republic.  Tyler  and  Upshur  therefore  decided  to  fore 
stall  such  an  event  by  concluding  a  treaty  of  annexation 
with  Texas.  The  negotiations,  so  far  as  they  are  recorded, 
began  October  16,  1843."30  Remembering  that  Tyler  was 
a  Virginian,  that  while  elected  as  a  Whig  he  became  a 
Democrat  and  protected  slavery,  it  is  clear  that  the  change 

"Dunning,  The  British  Empire  and  the  United  States,  pp. 
121-122. 

29  Texas,  State  Historical  Association  Quarterly,  vol.  ix,  pp. 
29,  30. 

•°  Garrison,  The  American  Nation,  yol.  xvii,  p.  114. 

102 

6 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

from  his  gracious  attitude  toward  Great  Britain  in  1842 
and  his  proposed  compromise  of  1842-43  to  his  reckless 
claim  in  the  December  message  of  1843  of  the  entire 
coast  up  to  54°  40',  was  a  blow  in  revenge  aimed  at  Great 
Britain  for  discouraging  slavery  in  Texas.  It  may  be 
well  to  add  that  Calhoun,  our  secretary  of  state,  received 
Lord  Aberdeen's  official  denial  of  interference  in  the  inter 
nal  affairs  of  Texas  February  26,  1844,  that  the  treaty 
of  annexation  of  Texas  was  made  by  Tyler  and  Calhoun 
April  12,  1844,  six  weeks  after  the  denial  had  been  re 
ceived;  that  April  19,  1844,  seven  weeks  after  the  United 
States  had  the  official  denial  of  the  British  government, 
Calhoun  instructed  our  charge  d'affaires  in  Mexico  to 
explain  to  the  Mexican  government  our  motives  in  the 
annexation  of  Texas  by  stating  "that  the  step  had  been 
forced  on  the  government  of  the  United  States  in  self- 
defense  in  consequence  of  the  policy  adopted  by  Great 
Britain  in  reference  to  the  abolition  of  slavery."  Thomp 
son's  narrative  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  speaking  of 
the  reports  of  Great  Britain's  motives  with  regard  to 
slavery  in  that  State,  well  says:  "The  knowledge  of  their 
falsification  could  not  be  concealed  from  the  Senate, 
although  they  were  successfully  hidden  from  the  country, 
and  when  exposed  to  that  body  they  were  found  to  be  so 
unjust  to  Great  Britain  that  in  order  to  condemn  them 
as  emphatically  as  possible,  it  rejected  the  treaty  by  a 
vote  of  more  than  two  to  one."31  This  was  the  first  treaty 
of  annexation. 

24.  Great  Britain  now  recognized  the  dangers  inherent 
in  the  American  attitude;  and  Richard  Pakenham,  who 

31  Thompson,  Recollections  of  Sixteen  Presidents  from  Wash 
ington  to  Lincoln,  vol.  i,  p.  229. 

103 


THE  OBEGON  MISSIONS 

had  succeeded  H.  S.  Fox  as  minister,  was  able  in  August, 
1844,  to  secure  a  conference  on  the  boundary  line.  Great 
Britain  proposed  the  49th  parallel  to  the  Columbia,  then 
down  the  Columbia  to  its  mouth,  with  a  free  port  for 
the  United  States  either  on  Vancouver  Island  or  on  the 
mainland  above  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  but  below 
latitude  49. 32  This  proposal  was  promptly  rejected  by 
our  government.33 

25.  February  3,  1845,  a  bill  in  favor  of  establishing  a 
territorial  government  in  Oregon  passed  the  House  by  a 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  forty  to  fifty-nine,  but  being 
postponed  when  on  the  point  of  a  vote,  failed  in  the  Senate 
through  lack  of  time. 

26.  July  12,  1845,  President  Polk,  through  Buchanan, 
his  secretary  of  state,  despite  the  campaign  cry  on  which 
he  was  elected,  but  in  view  of  the  actions  of  his  predeces 
sors,  again  offered  the  49th  parallel  from  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  but  it  was  promptly  rejected 
by  Mr.  Pakenham  on  July  29  without  referring  it  to  his 
government.34     This  gave  great  offense  to  the  American 
people  and  again  started  the  cry,  "Fifty-four  Forty  or 
Fight."     December  2,  1845,  Polk  in  his  message  to  Con 
gress  favored  inferentially  54°  40',  and  suggested  that  the 
authority  of  the  United  States.be  extended  over  all  our 
citizens  in  Oregon  and  that  the  President  be  given  au 
thority  to  give  the  year's  notice  for  the  termination  of 
joint  occupation.35     Both  houses  of  Congress  after  pro 
longed  debate  voted  authorizing  the  President  to  give  the 

82  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  383. 

83  Smith,  England  and  America  After  Independence,  p.  291. 
"Johnson,  America's  Foreign  Relations,  vol.  ii,  p.  422. 

85  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  422. 

104 

2 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

notice,  and  it  was  given  May  22,  1846.  On  June  6  a 
proposal  arrived  from  the  British  government  offering  the 
49th  parallel  as  the  boundary  line. 

But  the  settlement  was  by  no  means  effected  by  this 
late  concession  of  Great  Britain.  "So  strong  was  the 
*fif ty-f our  fort/  sentiment  in  the  Senate  that  it  was  ques 
tionable  whether  a  treaty  constituting  the  forty-ninth 
parallel  as  the  boundary  would  be  ratified.  ...  In  his 
dilemma  Polk  turned  to  the  one  man  who,  he  felt,  coujd 
save  the  day  for  him  and  for  Oregon — Benton,  of  Mis 
souri.  Already  one  of  the  most  abused  statesmen  in  the 
country  by  reason  of  the  bravery  and  honesty  with  which 
he  denied  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  any  part  of 
Oregon  north  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  Benton  cheer 
fully  accepted  the  added  burden  laid  upon  him.  His 
counsel  to  Polk  was  to  fall  back  upon  an  obsolete  custom 
and  request  the  Senate  to  give  him,  as  President,  its  advice 
upon  the  terms  of  the  treaty  to  be  negotiated.  .  .  .  Eagerly 
Polk  clutched  at  this  straw.  But,  he  nervously  asked, 
would  the  Senate  take  the  desired  action,  a  two-thirds  vote 
being  requisite?  Benton  engaged  that  it  would,  and,  to 
make  good  his  pledge,  saw  personally  every  Senatorial  mem 
ber  of  the  opposition  party — the  Whig  party — and  secured 
the  promise  of  sufficient  votes  to  carry  the  day  over  those 
Democrats  who,  like  Cass  and  Hannegan,  would  have  all  of 
Oregon  or  none." 

"June  10,  1846,  the  'advice'  was  asked.  It  was  an 
anxious  moment  for  both  Polk  and  Benton,  facing  a 
torrent  of  angry  invective  and  denounced  as  traitors  to 
their  party  and  their  country.  For  two  days  the  storm 
raged,  and  then,  the  Whigs-  faithfully  falling  into  line,  by 
thirty-seven  votes  to  twelve  the  President's  wishes  were 

105 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

met  in  a  terse,  businesslike  resolution.  Three  days  after 
ward  the  treaty  itself  was  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  State 
and  the  British  Minister,  and  in  another  two  days  trie 
Senate  ratified  it  by  an  increased  vote  on  each  side — forty- 
one  in  favor  of,  and  fourteen  opposed  to,  ratification.  In 
such  wise,  nearly  thirty  years  after  he  had  uttered  his  first 
protest  against  the  presence  of  the  British  in  the  pleasant 
lands  about  the  Columbia  River,  did  Thomas  Hart  Benton 
triumph  in  the  cause  he  had  so  stoutly  advocated."36 

This  review  of  the  activity  of  our  government  shows 
that  the  United  States,  however  slow,  played  an  important 
part  in  the  preservation  of  the  most  valuable  portion 
of  the  Oregon  Country.  But  this  conviction  does  not  call 
for  any  denial  of  the  value  and  the  providential  character 
of  missionary  work,  any  more  than  the  conviction  that 
the  American  colonies  eventually  would  have  won  their 
independence  had  Washington  never  been  born  calls  for 
any  denial  of  the  greatness  and  providential  character  of 
his  service. 

Moreover,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  popular  govern 
ments  are  moved  by  wide,  deep  currents  of  popular  feel 
ing,  which,  though  sometimes  unrecognized  by  contem 
poraries  and  sometimes  confused  with  temporary  eddies, 
nevertheless  in  the  end  control  the  national  life.  Two 
such  currents  swayed  the  nation  between  the  close  of  the 
Revolution  and  1850.  For  the  first  forty  years  the  foun 
ders  and  leaders  of  the  republic  were  impressed  and  almost 
overawed  by  the  greatness  of  their  task;  and  they  were 
willing  to  limit  the  republic  in  area  for  the  sake  of  greater 
unity  in  its  aims  and  stronger  prospects  for  its  continu- 

38  Bruce,  Romance  of  American  Expansion,  pp.  134-135. 

106 


THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

ance.  But  Anglo-Saxon  land  hunger  and  the  confusion 
of  greatness  with  bigness  found  expression  as  early  as 
1803  in  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  by  Jefferson,  a  strict 
constructionist,  and  of  Florida  in  1819.  This  impulse 
grew  stronger  and  stronger,  and  even  against  the  strength 
of  the  earlier  current  it  triumphed  in  the  annexation  of 
Texas  in  1845,  in  securing  the  larger  portion  of  the  Oregon 
Country  in  1846,  and  in  the  conquest  of  the  northern 
portion  of  Mexico  in  1848.  On  the  whole,  it  was  this  deep 
undercurrent  of  expansion  beginning  as  early  as  1803 
and  sweeping  the  country  from  1844-1848  which  saved  the 
Puget  Sound  region  to  the  United  States. 

Before  turning  from  the  government's  services  in  behalf 
of  the  Oregon  Territory,  it  is  not  amiss  to  correct  the 
impression  of  her  total  neglect  of  the  Indians.  The  trans 
formation  of  the  Indians  from  savage  to  civilized  life 
through  conversion  and  education  was  the  only  possible 
solution  of  their  problem.  The  United  States  as  a  govern 
ment  could  not  take  part  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
Indians.  But  the  United  States  government  did  take  part 
in  their  education.  She  spent  $4,391,000  in  1911,  and 
she  is  spending  substantially  that  amount  each  year  for 
their  education.  As  only  73,464  were  eligible  for  school 
attendance  in  19 13,37  this  appropriation  gives  over  fifty- 
nine  dollars  annually  for  each  Indian  pupil — the  largest 
appropriation  made  by  any  nation  for  the  education  of 
her  youth.  For  the  education  of  the  Indians  from  1876- 
1913  inclusive,  the  United  States  government  spent  $84,- 
985,000.38  Moreover,  we  should  remember  that  the  United 

"Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  for  1913, 
p.  181. 

"Ibid.,  p.  154. 

107 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

States  for  all  purposes,  is  spending  over  $16,000,000  a  year 
for  her  Indian  wards;  and  she  has  spent  from  1789  to 
1916  on  account  of  the  Indian  people,  $598,701,294.39 
The  United  States  government  deserves  the  credit  of  tak 
ing,  after  long  hesitancy  and  much  discussion,  the  just, 
wise,  and  successful  course  in  her  struggle  with  Great 
Britain  and  of  at  last  adopting  a  humane  and  generous 
policy  in  dealing  with  the  Indians. 

38  The  World  Almanac,  1917,  p.  519,  note. 


108 


CHAPTER  VII 
OREGON  PIONEERS 

"THIS  gradual  and  continuous  progress  of  the  European 
race  toward  the  Rocky  Mountains  has  the  solemnity  of  a 
providential  event.  It  is  like  a  deluge  of  men  rising  un- 
abatedly  and  daily  driven  onward  by  the  hand  of  God" 
( DeTocqueville ) . 

It  is  impossible  to  portray  the  services  of  all  the  early 
settlers  in  the  Oregon  Country  who  contributed  to  the 
solution  of  our  problem.  As  the  lives  of  an  unusual  pro 
portion  of  these  actors  in  the  drama  ended  in  tragedy,  let 
us  begin  with  one  who,  cherishing  an  unrealized  ideal, 
never  set  foot  in  Oregon.  . 

Jonathan  Carver  was  born  in  Connecticut  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  was  consequently  a  subject  of 
Great  Britain.  He  served  the  mother  country  in  the 
French  war  which  resulted  in  the  acquisition  of  Canada. 
His  ideal  was,  in  his  own  language,  "to  ascertain  the 
breadth  of  the  vast  continent  which  extends  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  .  .  "l  He  got  no  farther  on  his 
westward  journey  than  the  headwaters  of  the  Mississippi, 
which  he  reached  in  1766.  He  spent  two  years  with  the 
Indian  tribes  of  this  region,  and  says,  "From  these  nations 
and  my  own  observations,  I  have  learned  that  the  four 

Quoted  by  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  313. 

109 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

most  capital  rivers  on  the  continent  of  North  America, 
viz.,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Mississippi,  the  River  Bourbon 
— Red  River  of  the  North,  and  the  Oregon,  .  .  .  have 
their  sources  in  the  same  neighborhood.  The  waters  of 
the  three  former  are  within  thirty  miles  of  each  other; 
the  latter,  however,  is  rather  farther  west."2  Credit 
Jonathan  Carver  with  contributing  the  name  of  the  vast 
region  whose  settlement  we  discuss,  for  this  is  the  first 
mention  in  books  of  the  word  "Oregon." 

Among  the  intellectual  children  of  Jonathan  Carver 
were  John  Ledyard  and  Hall  J.  Kelley,  each  of  whom  was 
as  odd  and  inexplicable  as  himself.  John  Ledyard  was 
born  at  Groton,  Connecticut,  in  1751.  His  father  dying, 
his  mother  in  1772  sent  him  to  Dartmouth  College  to  pre 
pare  for  missionary  work  among  the  Indians.  He  was  a 
quaint,  gentle,  humane,  humorous  fellow,  who  undertook 
study  only  to  be  passed  by  one  professor  to  another;  busi 
ness  only  to  fail;  fell  in  love,  only  to  be  sent  wandering 
over  the  earth.  He  had  a  passion  for  travel,  as  Thoreau 
for  nature.  Once  he  took  a  canoe  which  he  had  built  in 
Vermont  and  floated  down  the  Connecticut  with  a  Greek 
Testament  as  a  companion.  Studying  the  book,  he  nearly 
floated  over  Bellows  Falls.  After  some  months  on  Long 
Island  he  made  a  voyage  to  Gibraltar  and  back,  then  went 
to  England  as  a  sailor,  and  in  July,  1776,  entered  the 
British  service  under  Captain  Cook  for  Cook's  third  voyage 
to  the  South  Sea.  On  this  voyage  Captain  Cook  discovered 
New  Zealand  and  later  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Then  Cook 
sailed  to  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  then  through 
Bering's  Strait  and  made  the  important  discovery  that  the 


'Quoted  by  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  314. 

110 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

supposed  Northwest  Passage  did  not  exist,  returned  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  was  killed.  The  ship,  with  Led- 
yard,  again  proceeded  north  for  furs,  which  were  sold  at 
Canton  for  a  fabulous  price;  the  ship  returned  to  London 
in  October,  1780.  The  British  government  was  deeply 
disappointed  over  the  discovery  that  there  was  no  North 
west  Passage,  but  published  the  records  of  the  voyage, 
including  Ledyard's  notes,  in  1784-85.  Ledyard  left  the 
British  service  when  they  attempted  to  force  him  into  the 
conflict  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  and  re 
turned  to  Long  Island  in  December,  1782.  He  soon  at 
tempted  to  interest  Americans  in  commercial  enterprises 
on  the  Northwest  Coast,  but  not  meeting  with  success  he 
sailed  for  Europe  and  finally  reached  Paris,  where  Louis 
XVI  was  led  'by  his  statements  to  plan  an  expedition  to 
the  Northwest  Coast  under  La  Perouse.  Jared  Sparks, 
Ledyard's  biographer,  says  he  was  the  first  either  in  Eu 
rope  or  America  to  suggest  a  commercial  voyage  to  the 
Northwest  Coast  for  trade  in  furs  with  China.3  While  in 
Paris  Ledyard  met  Thomas  Jefferson  and  talked  over  his 
plans  with  him,  thus  awakening  the  interest  which  led 
to  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804-06,  after 
Jefferson  had  come  to  the  presidency;  so  far  as  can  be 
learned,  it  was  these  conversations  with  Jefferson,  and 
especially  Ledyard's  history  of  his  travels  with  Captain 
Cook,  published  in  the  summer  of  1783,  which  helped  call 
Jefferson's  attention  to  the  possible  value  of  the  North 
west  Coast  and  led  to  his  letter  to  George  Rogers  Clark 
of  December  4,  1783,  in  which  he  asked  whether  Clark 
would  be  willing  to  lead  a  party  for  exploring  the  country 

8  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  69. 

Ill 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

from  the  Mississippi  to  California.4  It  was  George  Roger 
Clark's  brother,  William,  who,  with  Captain  Meriwether 
Lewis,  twenty  years  later  made  the  tour  of  exploration. 
Ledyard,  with  every  enterprise  with  which  he  was  con 
nected  failing,  and  dying  of  African  fever  while  seeking 
the  headwaters  of  the  Nile,  fittingly  ends  his  career  in 
tragedy.  Yet,  he  awakened  the  great  French  navigator, 
La  Perouse,  to  the  value  of  the  Northwest  Coast  and  fur 
nished  the  political  idealist,  Jefferson,  the  information  and 
inspiration  which  enabled  him  largely  to  shape  the  destiny 
of  the  nation.5 

We  find  Captain  Robert  Gray  discovering  and  naming 
the  Columbia  River  in  1792,  the  three  hundredth  anni 
versary  of  the  discovery  of  America.  Credit  another 
American  with  the  greatest  discovery  of  the  Northwest 
Coast. 

The  Missouri  Fur  Company  was  founded  in  1802  and 
established  the  first  American  settlement  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  at  Fort  Henry  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Snake  River  in  1809.  But  this  post  was  abandoned  in 
1810  on  account  of  the  hostility  of  the  Indians.6 

William  Weir  and  nine  more  Americans  trapped  down 
the  Columbia  River  in  1809 ;  they  were  the  first  American 
group  to  winter  on  its  lower  waters. 

Captain  Winship,  a  new  Englander,  built  and  occupied 
the  first  permanent  residence  on  the  Columbia  River  in 
1810. 

4  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  p.  113.  See  also  Bruce, 
Romance  of  American  Expansion,  pp.  30-36,  for  the  view  that 
Jefferson  already  was  an  expansionist  when  Ledyard  met  him 
in  Paris. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  63-80.  '  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  145. 

112 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

"Wilson  P.  Hunt,  in  the  employment  of  Mr.  Astor, 
started  with  some  sixty  men  across  the  continent,  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  in  1811  with  about  one 
half  of  them  and  founded  the  town  of  Astoria  in  1812. 
The  death  or  falling  out  of  the  ranks  of  nearly  one  half 
of  Hunt's  company  reveals  the  tragic  struggle  through 
which  these  heroes  of  the  continent  passed.  It  has  been 
asserted  that  two  fifths  of  all  the  men  engaged  in  the  fur 
trade  west  of  the  Missouri  lost  their  lives ;  though  it  should 
be  added  that  this  large  fatality  was  not  wholly  due  to  the 
inherent  hardships  of  the  trader's  life,  but  in  part  to 
alcohol  and  to  lust.7  It  should  be  further  added  that  the 
fur  companies  did  not  in  any  practical  sense  subdue  the 
wilderness,  but  they  rendered  invaluable  service  in  ex 
ploring  vast  regions,  ascertaining  the  routes  for  the 
pioneers,  and  guiding  them  on  their  early  journeys. 

Hall  J.  Kelley8  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  a  Boston 
schoolmaster,  and  a  religious,  political,  and  commercial 
fanatic.  He  became  impressed  with  the  value  of  Oregon 
from  the  report  of  Lewis  and  Clark  published  in  1814, 
from  some  accounts  of  the  Astor  expedition,  and  possibly 
from  New  England  sailors  who  had  sailed  with  Captain 
Gray  and  others  along  the  Pacific  Coast.  About  1815 
Kelley  began  publishing  articles  in  the  newspapers  on  the 
necessity  of  American  occupation  of  the  Northwest  Coast. 
In  1827  he  issued  under  a  title  almost  as  long  as  the  article 
itself,  "A  General  Circular  to  All  Persons  of  Good  Moral 
Character  Who  Wish  to  Migrate  to  the  Oregon  Territory," 
etc.  This  tract  indicated  that  a  society  already  had  been 

7  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  i,  p.  83. 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  267-276;  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol. 
iii,  pp.  71-82. 

113 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

formed  in  Boston  to  promote  the  settlement  of  the  North 
west  Territory;  but  this  society  was  originated  by  Kelley 
and  existed,  as  did  most  of  his  schemes,  chiefly  on  paper. 
Between  1830  and  1833  Kelley  spent  two  or  three  winters 
in  Washington  trying  to  influence  legislation  upon  Oregon. 
He  bored  congressmen  and  probably  had  little  influence, 
at  least  we  can  trace  no  congressional  action  to  his  per 
sonal  initiation.  He  left  for  Oregon  in  1833,  but  his 
idiosyncrasies  were  such  that  all  his  party  deserted  him 
at  New  Orleans.  He,  however,  succeeded  in  making  his 
way  to  Oregon  through  California.  The  travel  and  ex 
posure  brought  upon  Kelley  a  very  severe  attack  of  malaria 
and  he  owed  much  to  the  employees  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  We  are  sorry  to  say  that  Kelley's  egotism  led 
him  to  interpret  this  kindness  as  a  bribe  to  silence  on  his 
part.  His  vagaries  made  pioneer  life  impossible  to  him 
and  in  a  short  time  he  returned  East,  praising  the  country, 
furnishing  some  facts  in  regard  to  its  possibilities,  but 
denouncing  the  tyranny  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
After  his  return  he  lost  his  property  and  his  mind  became 
unsettled.  He  left  his  family  and  died  as  a  hermit  in 
1874  at  the  age  of  eighty- three.  His  permanent  contri 
butions  are  the  early  stimulus  which  his  writings  gave  to 
the  settlement  of  Oregon  and  the  names  "Adams"  and 
"Jefferson"  which  he  gave  to  two  peaks  of  the  everlasting 
hills  which  guard  the  riches  of  the  land.  Despite  all  his 
vagaries  and  the  unfortunate  termination  of  his  plans,  a 
desire  to  render  justice  to  Kelley's  unselfish  efforts  led 
Bancroft  to  write  of  him:  "On  the  other  hand,  among 
those  who  laid  the  foundations  of  Oregon's  present  institu 
tions,  of  Oregon's  present  society  and  prosperity,  I  should 
mention  first  of  all  the  Boston  schoolmaster,  the  enthu- 

114 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

siast,  the  schemer,  Hall  J.  Kelley,  though  he  never  was  a 
settler  in  the  country,  though  he  remained  there  but  a 
short  time,  under  inauspicious  circumstances,  and  departed 
without  making  any  apparent  mark.  It  was  he  who,  more 
than  any  other,  by  gathering  information  since  1815  and 
spreading  it  before  the  people,  kept  alive  an  intelligent 
interest  in  Oregon;  ...  it  was  he,  this  fanatic,  who 
stimulated  senators  to  speak  for  Oregon  on  the  floor  of 
congress,  and  even  shaped  the  presidential  policy/'9  Mrs. 
Frances  Fuller  Victor  also  wrote  of  Kelley:  "It  is  only 
justice  to  agree  with  him  that  he  set  on  foot  by  his  writ 
ings  the  immigration  movement  to  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  in  all  its  forms,  whether  missionary,  commercial 
or  colonizing."10  These  estimates  of  Kelley's  services 
seem  to  us  too  high,  though  we  sympathize  with  this  lonely, 
stricken  man  whose  life,  like  the  lives  of  his  greater  con 
temporaries,  ended  in  tears  which  watered  the  seeds  for 
future  harvests. 

Captain  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth's  services  in  visiting  the 
lower  portion  of  the  Columbia  River  in  1832,  in  leading 
a  company  of  Americans,  including  the  first  Protestant 
missionaries,  as  far  as  the  western  side  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains  in  1834,  in  founding  Fort  Hall  in  1834-35,  and  his 
defeat  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  already  have  been 
described.  He  deserves  honorable  mention  among  the 
Oregon  pioneers  for  contributing  in  a  practical  manner 
to  the  early  settlement  of  the  country. 

John  Ball.    Zion's  Herald,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in 

9  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  67-68. 
18  Oregon  Historical  Quarterly,  .December,  1901.    Quoted  by 
Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  iii,  p.   81. 

115 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

its  issue  of  December  18,  1833,  reproduced  an  article  from 
the  New  York  Observer  under  the  caption,  "Oregon  Ex 
pedition/'  This  article  was  evidently  inspired  by  and 
contained  extracts  from  a  letter  by  John  Ball.  The  issue 
of  Zion's  Herald  for  January  1,  1834,  contains  a  second 
article,  consisting  of  a  letter  from  John  Ball  again  repro 
duced  from  the  New  York  Observer;  and  the  Herald  of 
January  8,  1834,  contains  a  third  letter  from  Mr.  Ball — 
this  time  reproduced  from  the  New  York  Commercial 
Advertiser.  The  writer,  who  came  out  with  Captain 
Wyeth  in  1832  and  taught  the  half-breed  school  at  Fort 
Vancouver  in  1833,  gives  graphic  sketches  of  Oregon,  its 
soil,  climate,  possibilities,  and  its  commercial  and  political 
importance  to  the  United  States.  Bancroft  gives  Mr.  Ball 
the  unique  distinction  of  being  the  first  American  farmer 
in  the  Willamette  Valley.11  As  no  other  Americans  set 
tled  near  him  and  he  disliked  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
he  went  on  a  whaling  vessel  to  South  America  and  eventu 
ally  settled  at  Grand  Eapids,  Michigan. 

Captain  O'Neal.  Probably  influenced  by  Kelley's  writ 
ings,  Captain  O'Neal,  a  Boston  skipper,  visited  the  Colum 
bia  about  1832  with  the  brig  Llama,  taking  from  New 
England  to  the  Columbia  a  large  consignment  of  children's 
toys  and  various  interesting  and  useful  contrivances  which 
greatly  took  the  fancy  of  the  Indians.  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
for  the  protection  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  soon 
found  himself  constrained  to  buy  all  that  Captain  O'Neal 
had  left  of  his  cargo,  then  he  bought  his  ship,  and  finally 
hired  the  enterprising  captain.  Thus  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  transformed  another  rival  into  an  employee, 

11  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  75. 

116 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

and  Captain  O'Neal  remained  in  the  service  of  the  Com 
pany  for  thirty  years.12 

Webley  J.  Hauxhurst  was  born  on  Long  Island,  New 
York,  received  an  excellent  Christian  training  in  a  good 
Quaker  home,  but,  like  many  another  young  man,  he  was 
seized  with  the  "wanderlust"  and  strayed  to  California 
and  later  went  to  Oregon  with  the  Young  and  Kelley 
party.  The  year  after  his  arrival  in  Oregon  he  was 
brought  under  conviction  of  sin  by  Lee's  preaching  and 
by  the  earnestness  of  the  Indian  children's  prayers,  was 
converted,  joined  the  church,  and  remained  a  useful  citi 
zen  of  Oregon  until  his  death.  Being  a  millwright,  he 
erected  for  the  Methodist  Mission  the  first  American  grist 
mill  in  Oregon  and  thus  also  made  a  practical  and  very 
real  contribution  to  the  delivery  of  the  Americans  from  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  monopoly  and  to  the  advance 
ment  of  the  settlement  in  the  Willamette  Valley. 

Dr.  Elijah  White's  name  and  services  should  be  re 
corded  among  the  Oregon  pioneers.  He  went  out  originally 
as  a  missionary  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church;  but 
his  character  was  not  strong,  and  his  obsequious  manners 
rendered  him  unpopular  with  the  sturdy  pioneers.  He 
fell  into  some  misconduct  with  women,  resigned  under 
charges,  and  returned  East.  But  he  brought  back  to  the 
East  the  latest  information  in  regard  to  Oregon  at  a  time 
when  national  interest  made  such  information  of  great 
value.  He  said  nothing  of  the  charges  against  him  or  of 
any  difficulties  with  the  settlers  and  the  mission;  he  was 
a  physician,  a  man  of  intelligence,  a  good  talker,  and  he 
was  enthusiastic  over  Oregon.  In  January,  1842,  he 

"Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  i,  p.  199 

117 


THE  OBEGON  MISSIONS 

visited  New  York  and  called  upon  Messrs.  Fry  and  Farn- 
ham,  owners  of  the  Lausanne,  which  had  carried  out  the 
Methodist  party  in  1839-40.  They  gave  him  letters  to 
President  Tyler  and  Secretary  of  State  Daniel  Webster; 
Dr.  White  went  to  Washington  and  secured  the  support  of 
Senator  Linn,  who  was  the  warmest  and  wisest  supporter 
of  Oregon  in  Congress,  and  also  of  J.  C.  Spencer,  secretary 
of  war;  Jason  Lee  had  suggested  to  the  President  that 
he  appoint  an  Indian  agent  and  governor  for  Oregon.  Dr. 
White's  standing  in  Oregon  being  not  known,  and  he  being 
an  intelligent  professional  man,  a  good  talker,  and  an 
enthusiast  over  Oregon,  President  Tyler  acted  on  Lee's 
suggestion  far  enough  to  appoint  Dr.  White  sub-Indian 
agent  at  Saint  Louis  with  authority  beyond  the  Eocky 
Mountains.  Dr.  White  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  ap 
pointment  and  at  once"  announced  that  he  would  return 
to  Oregon  under  appointment  by  the  government.  This 
announcement  rallied  to  him  all  who  contemplated  going 
to  Oregon.  By  enthusiastic  labor  on  his  part  he  increased 
the  company  and  several  men  joined  the  party  while  on 
the  journey,  notably  Francis  X.  Matthieu.  With  his 
knowledge  of  the  country  and  with  the  aid  of  guides  he 
succeeded  in  reaching  Oregon  in  October,  1842,  with  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  persons,  fifty-two  of  whom 
were  men.  As  these  recruits  were  absolutely  essential  to 
carrying  the  measure  for  the  provisional  government  in 
1843,  it  will  thus  be  seen  that  Dr.  White  rendered  a  great 
service  to  Oregon.  While  he  never  secured  real  moral 
leadership  in  Oregon,  and  the  political  leadership  of  the 
Americans  passed  to  the  provisional  government,  so  far 
as  we  can  learn,  under  the  responsibilities  of  his  office,  he 
strove  actively  for  the  welfare  of  the  people.  Bancroft's 

118 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

characterization  of  him  as  a  sycophant,  his  statement  that 
the  Western  men  disliked  him  for  what  they  termed  his 
smooth-tongued  duplicity,  and  the  resolution  of  the  Oregon 
Legislature  of  1845  that  he  was  an  unfit  person  to  fill 
any  office  in  Oregon,  amply  justified  Lee's  request  that 
Dr.  White  surrender  his  credentials  as  a  missionary.  But 
we  accept  Bancroft's  final  estimate  of  him:  "Notwith 
standing  his  faults,  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  was  ever  an 
enemy  to  good  order  or  good  government."13 

Ewing  Young  reached  Oregon  in  the  summer  of  1834 
with  six  out  of  the  nine  men  who  started  with  him  from 
California.  A  group  of  horse  thieves  had  joined  their 
party  before  they  left  California,  but  parted  from  them  as 
they  crossed  the  Oregon  border.  The  details  were  un 
known,  however,  to  Governor  Figueroa,  of  California,  and 
he  believed  that  the  Young  and  Kelley  group  were  the 
guilty  ones.  A  message  to  this  effect  was  sent  to  Dr. 
McLoughlin  by  the  governor,  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  supposed 
horse  thieves.  But  while  Ewing  Young  and  Hall  J.  Kelley 
and  the  other  members  of  the  company  were  not  guilty 
of  stealing  horses,  Clarke  in  his  volumes  published  as  late 
as  1905  charges  them  with  a  far  more  serious  crime.  We 
have  no  ground  for  challenging  Clarke's  statement,  and 
we  deplore  the  stain  which  it  leaves  upon  the  memories 
of  two  men  who,  despite  vagaries  and  serious  faults,  ren 
dered  good  service  to  Oregon.  After  the  horse  thieves 
separated  from  the  company  of  which  Young  and  Kelley 
were  in  charge,  several  members  of  the  group,  including 
Kelley,  suffered  from  malaria  so  seriously  that  they  re- 

13  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  487,  note. 

119 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

tired  to  an  island  in  the  Rogue  River  for  recuperation. 
They  thought  they  were  concealed  from  all  observation 
by  the  Indians,  but  one  day  they  were  visited  by  two 
friendly  Indians  who  remained  several  hours  with  them. 
Seized  with  fear  that  these  two  Indians  might  be  spies, 
and  that  in  any  case  they  would  report  their  illness,  the 
white  men,  after  brief  consultation  killed  the  Indians, 
concealed  their  bodies,  and  resumed  their  journey;  they 
soon  passed  beyond  the  territory  of  the  murdered  Indians 
and  so  escaped  punishment.  Kelley  speaks  of  the  com 
pany  as  having  killed  several  California  Indians  who  hung 
upon  their  rear,  and  added  that  Young  approved  of  the 

murders,  saying  they  were  ad d  villains,  and  ought  to 

be  shot."14  Once  in  Oregon,  Young,  like  Absalom,  chafed 
at  neglect  and  entered  into  partnership  with  a  member 
of  his  party,  Lawrence  Carmichael,  to  start  a  distillery. 
They  secured  one  or  two  kettles  and  began  their  nefarious 
business.  Jason  Lee  at  once  organized  the  Oregon  Tem 
perance  Society,  wrote  a  petition  in  favor  of  temperance, 
had  it  signed  by  every  settler  in  the  Willamette  Valley, 
called  on  Dr.  McLoughlin — who  had  already  established 
prohibition  by  edict  and  had  offered  to  establish  Young 
in  some  honorable  enterprise — then  wrote  a  friendly  letter 
to  Young  and  Carmichael,  setting  forth  the  dangers  of 
liquor  among  the  Indians  and  the  whites,  inclosing  the 
petition  and  urging  them  to  abandon  the  distillery.  Recog 
nizing  the  expense  they  had  already  incurred,  Lee  offered 
the  sixty  dollars  which  the  signers  to  the  petition  had 
subscribed  for  temperance  work  to  repay  Young  and 
Carmichael  for  their  expenditures.  Young  was  deeply 

14  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  i,  pp.  294-298. 

120 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

impressed  by  the  fairness  and  friendly  spirit  of  Lee's 
letter,  by  the  petition  couched  in  respectful  terms  and 
signed  by  all  the  white  settlers  in  the  region,  and  especially 
by  the  generous  offer  to  refund  the  money  already  ex 
pended,  and  he  promised  Lee  that  he  would  abandon  the 
enterprise,  but  declined  with  thanks  the  contributions.  On 
the  other  hand,  Young  declared:  "McLoughlin's  tyran 
nizing  oppression  and  disdain  were  'more  than  the  feelings 
of  an  American  citizen  could  support/  and  declared  that 
the  innumerable  difficulties  placed  in  his  way  by  the  Com 
pany  under  McLoughlin's  authority  were  the  occasion  of 
his  being  driven  to  consider  so  objectionable  a  means  of 
obtaining  a  livelihood."16 

But  Young  did  much  to  redeem  himself  by  helping 
organize  the  Willamette  Cattle  Company  and  by  his  notable 
service  in  connection  with  it.  v  On  the  arrival  of  the  Meth 
odist  missionaries  in  1834  Jason  Lee  told  Dr.  McLoughlin 
that  he  had  driven  two  cows  as  far  west  as  Fort  Boise  and 
that  he  had  left  them  there  for  use  when  he  returned  to 
the  Flathead  Indians.  When,  on  Dr.  McLoughlin's  advice, 
Jasca  Lee  decided  to  settle  in  the  Willamette  Valley,  Dr. 
McLoughlin  traded  him  two  cows  for  the  cattle  at  Fort 
Boise,  and  loaned  him  seven  oxen,  one  bull,  and  eight 
cows,  with  the  provision  that  all  the  calves  should  be  re 
turned  to  the  Company  as  soon  as  weaned,  and  that  the 
older  cattle  should  be  returned  when  the  company  called 
for  them.  Dr.  McLoughlin  rendered  a  similar  kindness 
to  other  settlers;  but  in  all  cases  under  the  strict  orders 
from  the  governor  and  the  directors  in  London  he  refused 
to  sell  any  cattle  to  anyone.  This  left  all  the  American 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  99. 

121 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

settlers  in  the  Willamette  Valley  with  only  two  cows  and 
these  belonging  to  the  Methodist  Mission  and  not  sufficient 
to  supply  their  wants.  Young  reported  that  cattle  were 
selling  in  California  at  three  dollars  per  head;  Jason  Lee 
offered  Dr.  McLoughlin  $200  for  a  cow  of  the  same  breed 
as  those  in  California,  but  under  strict  orders  from  the 
London  directors  Dr.  McLoughlin  declined  the  offer. 
Young  also  reported  that  Russian  ships  coming  down  the 
coast  from  their  fur  companies  were  paying  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  per  bushel  for  wheat  in  California,  whereas 
the  Willamette  Valley  farmers  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  were  in  a  struggle,  the  farmers  holding  five  thousand 
bushels  of  wheat  in  their  granaries,  because  the  Company 
would  pay  them  only  fifty  cents  per  bushel.  Hence  the  set 
tlers  under  the  lead  of  the  Methodists  formed  the  Willam 
ette  Cattle  Company.  The  company  apparently  took  its 
final  shape  after  Mr.  Slacum  arrived  with  the  brig  Loriot 
and  offered  to  carry  the  managers  of  the  company  and 
their  employees  to  San  Francisco  without  charge  save  for 
food.  As  proof  of  his  confidence  in  Jason  Lee  and  in 
order  to  encourage  the  company,  Mr.  Slacum  offered  Lee 
$500  to  invest  in  cattle.  As  nedther  Lee  nor  the  Mission 
at  that  time  had  any  money,  he  accepted  the  loan  in  the 
name  of  the  Mission  and  the  cattle  which  he  secured  in 
return  for  the  $500  became  the  property  of  the  Mission. 
Mr.  Slacum  also  invested  $175  in  the  company  under 
Lee's  direction,  which  entitled  him  to  twenty-three  head 
of  cattle  at  seven  dollars  and  sixty-seven  cents  per  head, 
and  these  in  turn,  with  their  increase,  yielded  Slacum  four 
years  later  $860.16  As  Jason  Lee  had  been  impressed 


1§  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  i,  p.  311. 

122 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

with  the  honorable  conduct  of  Young  in  giving  up  the 
distillery  without  compensation,  and  was  especially  im 
pressed  with  his  practical  ability,  Young  was  made  cap 
tain  of  the  company,  while  P.  L.  Edwards,  of  the  Mission, 
was  made  treasurer.  Dr.  McLoughlin,  who  felt  deeply 
humiliated  over  the  orders  of  the  company  in  London  and 
perceived  that  the  settlers  would  import  the  cattle  without 
the  consent  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  offered  to  take 
for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  half  the  stock  in  the 
Willamette  Cattle  Company.  All  the  settlers  combined, 
invested  $1,100  in  the  company.  Mr.  Slacum  invested 
$175;  Lee  invested  $500  for  the  Methodists,  and  Mc 
Loughlin  $900,  according  to  Bancroft,  though  Daniel  Lee 
represents  the  total  investment  as  $2,880. 17  We  are  sorry 
that  in  the  references  to  the  Oregon  Cattle  Company 
Hines,  Slacum,  and  Daniel  Lee  do  not  mention  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin's  subscription,  for  it  is  another  illustration  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin  the  man  rising  above  the  restrictions 
of  his  company;  but  had  not  Bancroft  rescued  the  fact 
from  Dr.  McLoughlin's  papers,  the  world  would  have  re 
mained  ignorant  of  another  illustration  of  McLoughlin's 
strength  of  character.  Jason  Lee  accompanied  Young 
and  his  company  as  far  as  the  Columbia  River  and  had 
prayers  with  them  aboard  the  vessel  before  they  set  sail; 
and  as  he  was  leaving  the  ship,  Mr.  Slacum  handed  him 
an  envelope  containing  fifty  dollars  as  a  token  of  his  high 
esteem.  It  was  due  to  Ewing  Young's  good  judgment  in 
buying  live  stock,  it  was  due  to  Young's  knowledge  of  the 
route,  and  to  his  courage,  energy,  and  ability  as  a  leader 
that  the  company  returned  in  the  fall  of  1836  with  six 

1T  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  141-150. 

123 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

hundred  and  thirty  head  of  cattle,  thus  breaking  forever 
one  of  the  greatest  monopolies  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany.  Ewing  Young  deserves  honorable  mention  as  one 
who  helped  to  lay  the  foundations  for  independence  and 
wealth  for  the  Americans  in  Oregon,  but  severe  blame  for 
his  sanction  of  the  murder  of  two  Indian  guests. 

Joseph  Gale  was  a  seaman,  a  mountain  man,  a  free 
trapper,  an  employee  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for 
some  years,  and  a  settler  in  the  Willamette  Valley.  Owing 
to  the  shortage  of  live  stock  even  after  Young's  trip  to 
California,  and  stimulated  by  the  large  profits  of  that  trip 
and  the  supply  of  ship  timber  in  Oregon,  there  arose  a 
proposal  in  1840  to  build  a  schooner,  sail  her  to  San 
Francisco,  sell  or  trade  her  for  live  stock,  and  drive  the 
stock  back  to  Oregon.  John  Canan,  Ealph  Kilbourne, 
Pleasant  Armstrong,  Henry  Woods,  George  Davis,  and 
Jacob  Green  formed  a  company  and  secured  the  promise 
of  Joseph  Gale  to  join  it  as  captain  of  the  ship  they  pur 
posed  building  when  the  work  was  so  far  advanced  as  to 
assure  its  completion.  Felix  Hathaway,  an  excellent  ship 
carpenter,  was  hired  to  lay  out,  assist,  and  superintend 
the  building  of  the  ship.  The  money  and  provisions  of  the 
company  failing  when  the  ship  was  about  half  built,  Hath 
away  quit  its  service,  and  Gale  and  Kilbourne  finished 
the  schooner  and  launched  her  without  accident.  Dr.  Me- 
Loughlin  refused  to  sell  the  necessary  furnishings  for  the 
ship  on  the  ground  that  Gale,  the  so-called  captain,  had 
worked  for  him  for  years  and,  in  his  judgment,  knew 
nothing  about  a  ship;  he  said  that  the  men  were  simply 
building  themselves  a  coffin.  Captain  Wilkes,  of  the 
United  States  navy,  whom  the  government  had  sent  on  a 
scientific  expedition  to  the  Oregon  Country,  told  Dr.  Mc- 

124 


OREGON  PIONEERS 

Loughlin,  somewhat  sharply,  that  he  had  had  a  talk  with 
Gale  and  knew  him  to  be  an  experienced  seaman,  and 
asked  that  the  goods  be  charged  to  Wilkes's  account.  Cap 
tain  Wilkes  then  furnished  Gale  some  questions  and  after 
reading  his  answers  licensed  him  to  take  charge  of  a  ship. 
Wilkes's  license  of  Gale  as  a  captain  was  as  irregular  as 
Lee's  appointment  of  Leslie  as  justice  of  the  peace,  but, 
like  Lee's  appointment,  it  had  necessity  and  the  interests 
of  the  country  back  of  it,  and  was  amply  justified  by  the 
results.  Gale  was  accompanied  by  the  other  members  of 
the  company  with  the  exception  of  Davis  and  Woods;  he 
spent  several  days  sailing  up  and  down  the  Columbia  train 
ing  the  men  to  handle  the  ship  and  teaching  them  to  steer 
by  the  compass.  When  he  dropped  down  near  the  mouth 
of  the  river  the  men  became  deadly  seasick  and  begged 
Gale  to  take  them  back,  but  he  slipped  over  the  bar  with 
out  damage  to  the  ship  and  pushed  into  the  Pacific,  where 
he  immediately  encountered  a  severe  storm.  Captain  Gale 
personally  stood  at  the  helm  for  thirty-six  hours  while  the 
men,  in  fear  of  death,  obeyed  his  commands  according  to 
the  best  of  their  knowledge  and  ability.  After  a  voyage 
of  five  days  Gale  brought  them  safely  to  San  Francisco, 
September  17,  1842.  He  and  his  partners  traded  the  ship 
for  three  hundred  and  fifty  head  of  cattle ;  and  Gale  wrote 
a  circular  and  sent  it  to  several  stations  in  California  and 
gathered  forty-two  men  in  all,  with  twelve  hundred  and 
fifty  head  of  cattle,  six  hundred  head  of  horses,  and  nearly 
three  thousand  sheep.  The  company  started  to  Oregon 
May  14,  1843,  and  on  July  28,  1843,  reached  the  Willa 
mette  Valley  with  slight  loss  of  live  stock  and  with  neither 
death  nor  accident  befalling  a  single  man  on  the  trip. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  daring  adventures  of  daring  American 

125 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

adventurers  recorded  in  history  and  ended  in  glory  and 
profit  to  all.  Joseph  Gale  deserved  his  election  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  first  executive  committee  of  three  to  govern 
Oregon.18 

"Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  pp.  616- 
627. 


126 


CHAPTER  VIII 
EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

THE  recognition  of  the  services  of  the  men  who  helped 
save  Oregon  demands  the  portrayal  of  four  more  pioneers. 
One  of  these  men,  Ebberts,  is  a  fine  combination  of  trap 
per,  farmer,  and  public  citizen.  Two  of  them,  Meek  and 
Drannan,  remind  us  of  Kit  Carson  and  Daniel  Boone, 
while  Thornton  suggests  what  Abraham  Lincoln  might 
have  become  had  he  gone  to  Oregon  in  the  early  days,  as 
once  seemed  probable.1  The  services  of  these  men  were 
of  a  half-political,  half-military  character.  Ebberts,  Meek, 
and  Thornton  helped  to  awaken  the  East  and  lead  Con 
gress  to  act  on  the  territorial  organization  of  Oregon, 
while  Drannan  as  chief  of  the  scouts  helped  bring  the 
Modoc  war  to  a  conclusion. 

George  W.  Ebberts,  called  from  boyhood  "Squire" 
Ebberts,  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1810.  He  came  from 
the  land  of  Daniel  Boone.  His  family  was  in  good  circum 
stances.  He  learned  the  machinist's  trade,  entered  the 
Rocky  Mountains  as  a  trapper  in  1829,  served  six  years 
in  the  American  Fur  Company  and  three  years  in  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  in  1838  worked  during  the 
winter  for  the  American  Board  mission  at  Lapwai,  as  a 
blacksmith.  Probably  while  there  he  married  his  Nez 
Perce  wife,  who  held  his  affection  to  the  last  and  proved, 

1  Charnwood,  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  95. 

127 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

like  McLoughlin's  Indian  wife,  a  helpmate  entirely  worthy 
of  her  white  husband.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  would 
tolerate  no  competition  in  fur  traffic;  so  Ebberts,  after 
crossing  into  the  "Willamette  Valley  in  1839,  settled  near 
Champoeg,  worked  for  the  Methodists  for  a  time,  took 
up  land  for  himself  and  raised  wheat  and  live  stock, 
and  became  a  well-known  citizen  in  good  circumstances. 
Though  a  poor  shot,  he  was  unrivaled  in  skill  and  courage 
as  a  traveler  and  a  trapper.  He  was  the  companion  of 
Meek  in  the  dangerous  journey  across  the  continent  in 
the  winter  of  1847-48;  was  solemnly  promised  by  Meek 
that  he  should  share  equally  in  any  compensation  which 
might  be  paid,  received  not  a  penny  of  the  more  than 
$8,000  which  Meek  secured  from  Oregon  and  the  United 
States  government,  but  gave  eighteen  months  of  his  life 
and  $500  of  his  own  money,  and  equally  with  Meek  risked 
his  life  in  the  service  of  Oregon  and  of  the  United  States. 
All  honor  to  George  W.  Ebberts. 

Joseph  L.  Meek  was  a  Rocky  Mountain  hunter  and 
trapper  who  came  with  his  Indian  wife  and  children  to 
the  Willamette  Valley  in  1840.  Too  poor  to  own  a  wagon 
for  himself,  on  this  journey  he  drove  a  team  for  Robert 
Newell  from  Fort  Hall  to  Fort  Walla  Walla.  This  and 
a  second  wagon  owned  by  Newell  and  driven  by  himself 
and  a  third  owned  and  driven  by  Caleb  Wilkins  were  the 
first  three  wagons  ever  driven  from  Fort  Hall  to  Fort 
Walla  Walla.  Meek  was  a  tall,  lithe  man,  of  black  eyes 
and  swarthy  complexion,  of  boundless  courage  and  great 
powers  of  endurance,  and  intense  patriotism.  He  was  fond 
of  drink,  but  was  converted  at  the  first  camp  meeting 
for  white  men,  held  by  Jason  Lee  in  Oregon  in  1843.  He 
soon  backslid  and  lapsed  into  his  old  habits,  though  his 

128 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

stronger  and  better  nature  frequently  asserted  itself.  At 
the  convention  of  all  the  citizens  of  the  Willamette  Valley 
held  in  1843,  when  the  vote  for  the  provisional  govern 
ment  was  taken,  the  chairman,  the  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines, 
after  counting  hands  as  best  he  could  in  the  dense  com 
pany,  was  forced  to  declare  the  motion  lost.  Before  the 
British  had  the  wit  to  move  an  adjournment  of  the  con 
vention,  Meek's  stentorian  voice  rang  out  calling  for  a 
division  on  the  question  and  summoning  all  who  favored 
the  United  States  to  follow  him  to  one  side  of  the  yard, 
while  those  favoring  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
British  rule  remained  on  the  other  side.  For  perhaps  a 
minute  the  old  trapper,  Francis  X.  Matthieu,  was  seen 
standing  in  the  center  of  the  yard  talking  earnestly  with 
a  Canadian  settler,  who  had  been  an  employee  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  They  then  passed  over  to  the 
American  side;  the  count  was  again  taken  and  the  vote 
was  found  to  be  fifty-two  for  provisional  government  and 
fifty  against;  the  Americans  won  by  two  votes. 

November  29,  1847,  the  Whitman  massacre  occurred 
and  was  followed  by  the  Cayuse  war.  The  Roman  Catholic 
mission  was  temporarily  paralyzed,  even  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  was  awed,  and  the  life  of  the  entire  Ameri 
can  community  was  hanging  in  the  balance.  It  was  of 
vital  importance  to  send  news  of  the  massacre  and  the  war 
to  the  government  at  Washington,  and  Governor  Aber- 
nethy  paid  Joseph  Meek  the  rare  compliment  of  selecting 
him  for  this  dangerous  task.  Governor  Abernethy  raised 
what  money  he  could  toward  the  expenses  of  the  journey, 
Dr.  Gary,  then  head  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  advancing 
$500.  Immediately  Meek  asked  for  Ebberts  as  a  com 
panion,  and  Governor  Abernethy,  at  Meek's  request,  gave- 

129 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

the  latter  a  letter  to  Ebberts  begging  him  to  undertake 
the  perilous  journey  with  Meek.  While  Ebberts  lacked 
Meek's  dashing  leadership,  he  was  known  to  be  a  far  saner 
and  more  reliable  man,  who  probably  would  have  more 
weight  in  the  halls  of  Congress  and  better  judgment  in 
meeting  Indians  where  life  and  death  were  hanging  in 
the  balance.  Besides,  Ebberts  as  a  man  of  substance  was 
able  to  pay  his  own  way  to  Washington,  as  Meek  was  not. 
Meek  lifted  up  his  hand  and  placing  it  on  his  heart  swore 
in  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Ebberts  that  if  "Squire"  Ebberts 
would  go  with  him,  he  should  be  treated  as  an  equal  and 
that  he  should  share  with  himself  in  any  compensation 
which  either  the  Oregon  settlers  or  the  United  States  gov 
ernment  might  grant  them.  Ebberts  accepted  promptly 
this  appeal  to  his  courage  and  his  patriotism;  and  im 
mediately  the  two  brave  men  entered  upon  their  task. 
Their  journey  led  directly  through  the  country  of  the 
Indians,  who  had  already  begun  the  war  and  who  were 
exceedingly  anxious  that  no  report  of  their  massacre 
should  reach  Washington.  Meek  and  Ebberts  left  the 
Willamette  country  January  4,  1848.  They  were  obliged 
to  ride  seven  hundred  miles  farther  than  Whitman  on  his 
famous  journey  because  they  were  seven  hundred  miles 
west  of  Whitman's  station  when  they  started.  On  reach 
ing  The  Dalles  they  waited  until  nearly  the  close  of  Janu 
ary  for  Gilliam's  troop  as-  a  guard.  Gilliam  accompanied 
them  with  a  regiment  of  men  as  far  as  Waiilatpu.  Here 
the  party  stopped  and  reburied  the  bodies  of  the  Whitman 
party  which  Father  Brouillet  and  another  white  man  had 
covered  lightly  with  earth,  but  which  the  wolves  had  dug 
up  and  stripped  to  the  bone.  Meek  reburied  the  skeleton 
of  his  own  daughter,  which  he  recognized  from  the  hair. 

130 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

She  had  been  in  Mrs.  Whitman's  school  and  had  been 
killed  with  the  rest  of  the  victims.  One  hundred  men 
under  Adjutant  Wilcox  accompanied  Meek  and  Ebberts 
as  far  as  the  Blue  Mountains  through  the  Cayuse  Country. 
From  that  point  the  Meek  and  Ebberts  party  consisted 
of  themselves,  Owens,  and  four  Americans  returning  to 
the  States.  The  snow  was  very  deep  and  the  weather  very 
cold,  and  two  of  the  Americans  dropped  out  at  Fort  Boise. 
Here  Meek  adopted  the  red  belt  and  the  Canadian  cap 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  employees.  The  Bannock 
Indians,  who  were  greatly  stirred  by  the  report  of  the 
Cayuse  war,  saw  Meek's  party  at  a  distance  and  at  once 
pursued  them.  But  on  drawing  near  and  perceiving 
Meek's  cap  and  belt,  they  came  up  without  firing.  Meek 
assured  them  that  he  was  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  on  the  way  to  Fort  Hall  and  that  Captan  McKay 
was  only  a  day's  journey  in  the  rear  with  a  large  body  of 
men,  and  goods  for  barter  with  them.  On  receiving  this 
news  the  Bannock  chief  ordered  his  braves  to  stand  back 
and  permit  Meek  and  his  men  to  pass  on.  Meek  re 
ported  the  party  of  traders  only  a  day's  journey  in  the 
rear  in  order  to  awaken  the  chief's  desire  for  trade  and 
also  to  lead  him  to  believe  that  if  he  murdered  Meek  and 
his  men,  the  massacre  would  be  speedily  discovered  and 
avenged.  As  Meek  knew  that  his  falsehood  would  soon  be 
discovered,  he  stopped  at  Fort  Hall  only  for  a  meal  and 
then  pushed  on  in  a  driving  snowstorm  so  as  to  escape 
the  rage  of  the  Bannocks.  For  two  days  the  five  men 
struggled  on  in  the  snow  on  horseback,  then  made  them 
selves  snowshoes  of  willow  withes  and  abandoned  their 
horses.  They  had  only  the  food  they  could  carry,  slept  in 
their  blankets  out  of  doors,  nearly  perished,  killed  two 

131 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

polecats  which  served  as  food  for  two  or  three  days,  and 
on  the  headwaters  of  Bear  River  fell  in  with  Pegleg 
Smith,  a  famous  mountaineer,  who  had  lost  a  leg  fighting 
the  Crow  Indians.  Smith  and  ten  men  were  herding  a 
drove  of  cattle  which  were  living  on  the  tall  grass  not 
wholly  covered  by  snow.  Smith  killed  a  cow  and  made  a 
feast  and  a  dance  for  them  with  some  Indian  women. 
The  next  morning  with  what  beef  they  could  carry  they 
started  from  Bear  River  for  the  headwaters  of  Green 
River,  then,  crossing  Muddy  Fork,  on  to  Fort  Bridger. 
Here  Meek  met  Bridger,  whose  daughter  had  also  been 
at  school  at  Dr.  Whitman's  and  who  also  had  been  slain, 
and  whose  bones  Meek  assured  Bridger  that  he  had  re- 
buried,  thus  greatly  stirring  Bridger's  feelings.  Hence, 
Bridger,  in  order  that  Meek  might  aid  to  avenge  their 
common  wrongs  against  the  Cayuses,  gave  the  travelers 
his  four  mules  and  all  the  food  they  could  carry.  As  there 
were  five  men  they  took  turns  walking  and  now  made  more 
speed,  and  in  due  time  reached  the  South  Pass.  The  snow 
was  very  deep  and  two  of  the  mules  were  lost  in  it,  their 
loss  retarding  the  speed  of  the  company.  Besides,  owing 
to  the  deep  snow,  little  game  was  to  be  seen,  and  the  men 
suffered  much  from  cold  and  hunger  as  they  journeyed 
down  the  Sweetwater  River  to  the  Platte.  At  Red  Buttes 
they  killed  a  single  buffalo  which  had  fallen  out  of  some 
herd  and  whose  meat  providentially  kept  them  alive  until 
they  reached  the  Platte.  Here  the  traveling  was  better, 
and  they  found  game  and  thus  reached  a  French  trader 
named  Papillon.  The  Frenchman  received  them  hos 
pitably,  and,  stirred  by  Meek's  story,  furnished  them 
fresh  mules  and  warned  them  against  a  body  of  hostile 
Sioux  at  Ash  Hollow,  a  hundred  miles  down  the  river. 

132 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

They  planned  to  pass  the  Sioux  camp  in  the  night,  but, 
owing  to  a  blinding  snowstorm,  they  ran  into  the  Sioux 
camp  in  the  afternoon  before  they  saw  it.  Providentially 
another  Frenchman  named  Le  Beau,  who  was  living  with 
the  Sioux,  saw  the  party  first,  preserved  their  lives,  and 
guided  them  safely  through  the  camp.  After  bidding 
farewell  to  Le  Beau,  they  made  a  wide  detour  to  throw 
the  Sioux  off  their  track  in  case  of  pursuit.  By  hard 
travel,  with  many  hardships  and  through  grave  dangers, 
the  party  reached  Saint  Joseph,  Missouri,  in  a  little  over 
two  months  from  the  time  it  started,  as  compared  with 
four  months  which  Dr.  Whitman  spent  on  the  Southern 
route  in  1842-43.  Meek  was  soon  out  of  money,  having 
spent  it  with  a  lavish  hand.  But  a  man  in  Saint  Joseph, 
to  whom  he  brought  a  letter  from  his  son,  took  Meek  and 
Ebberts  in  a  carriage  on  to  Independence,  Missouri,  where 
Meek  had  a  sister  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  nineteen  years. 
A  steamboat  was  just  starting  on  its  first  spring  trip  to 
Saint  Louie,  and  the  captain,  on  hearing  Meek's  story, 
took  him  and  Ebberts  down  the  river  without  charge. 
Meek  had  a  wonderful  story  to  tell;  besides  he  was  a 
gifted  liar,  and  had  a  positive  genius  for  getting  every 
thing  for  nothing.  He  was  a  born  actor,  while  his  fertile 
imagination  gave  hints  of  an  uncouth  and  undeveloped 
Mark  Twain  or  Bret  Harte.  At  the  wharf  in  Saint  Louis 
Meek  met  a  man  named  Campbell,  whom  he  had  known 
in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  told  him  a  lurid  story. 
Campbell  gave  the  story  to  the  papers  that  night  and  the 
next  morning  Meek  awoke  famous.  The  night  of  his 
arrival  at  Saint  Louis  Meek  telegraphed  President  Polk, 
to  whom  he  was  known  and,  indeed,  related,  and  soon 
received  an  answer  from  the  President  bidding  him  come 

133 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

at  once  to  Washington.  Two  boats  were  starting  the  next 
morning  for  Pittsburgh ;  Meek  picked  out  the  Declaration, 
mounted  the  hurricane  deck,  and  in  stentorian  tones  an 
nounced  the  massacre,  the  heroic  ride  east,  the  summons 
of  the  President  to  Washington,  and  displayed  the  tele 
gram.  He  bade  those  going  up  the  Ohio  take  the  Declara 
tion  and  he  would  tell  them  all  the  story.  The  Declaration 
was  crowded,  and  its  rival  ran  up  the  river  empty.  As  a 
result,  Meek  and  Ebberts  had  free  transportation  with 
drinks  thrown  in.  Meek  and  Ebberts  reached  Wheeling 
after  the  stage  had  left  for  Cumberland,  but  Meek  stretched 
himself  up  to  his  full  height  of  six  feet  two  inches,  and 
announced  himself  in  stentorian  tones  as  "envoy  ex 
traordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  from  the  repub 
lic  of  Oregon  to  the  court  of  the  United  States/'  This, 
with  his  letter  from  Governor  Abernethy  and  his  telegram 
from  President  Polk  and  his  marvelous  stories,  led  the 
manager  to  order  another  team  at  once  and  send  the  two 
envoys  on  their  way.  On  the  train,  when  the  conductor 
called  for  tickets,  Meek  played  the  part  of  an  Indian  with 
no  knowledge  of  the  language,  but  showed  the  letter  and 
telegram — and  the  conductor  permitted  them  to  ride  with 
out  even  the  formality  of  a  pass.  At  Washington  Meek 
went  to  the  Coleman  House,  the  most  fashionable  hotel 
in  the  city.  He  at  once  attracted  the  notice  of  senators, 
who  paid  him  great  attention.  His  remarkable  stories, 
his  histrionic  manners,  and  his  telegram  from  President 
Polk  drew  all  eyes  toward  him.  He  demanded  to  be  driven 
to  the  President  at  once.  The  colored  servant  of  President 
Polk  at  the  White  House  had  known  him  in  childhood, 
and  on  recognizing  him  ushered  him  into  the  White  House. 
Meek  was  related  to  the  President's  family,  and  Knox 

134 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

Walker,  the  President's  secretary,  also  a  relative,  rushed 
forward  and  saluted  him  as  "Uncle  Joe,"  and  Meek  called 
him  "Knox."  He  sent  the  secretary  at  once  to  the  Presi 
dent,  who  came  out  of  a  conference  and  greeted  him 
cordially.  After  a  few  words  by  Meek  the  President  dis 
missed  the  committee  waiting  upon  him,  gave  Meek  a 
two-hours  interview,  then  prepared  a  message  and  sent  it 
the  very  next  day  to  Congress,  calling  urgently  for  relief 
for  Oregon.2  The  message  was  sent  to  Congress  May  29, 
1848,  and  this  gives  us  May  28  as  the  day  of  Meek's  and 
Ebberts's  arrival,  making  the  journey  from  January  4  only 
four  months  and  twenty-four  days — the  shortest  journey 
from  Oregon  to  Washington  on  record  at  that  time. 

After  remaining  three  weeks  in  Washington  and  dis 
charging  in  full  their  task,  Ebberts  proposed  that  they 
return  home.  But  Meek  had  no  thought  of  leaving  so  soon 
his  dear  cousins  at  the  White  House.  But  he  again 
solemnly  promised  Ebberts  to  share  with  him  any  money 
which  the  government  might  appropriate  for  expenses  and 
compensation.  Ebberts  started  back  to  Oregon,  and,  on 
account  of  being  forced  to  work  at  times  for  wages  in  order 
to  complete  his  journey,  was  eighteen  months  on  the  trip 
East  and  back,  and  the  trip,  as  already  narrated,  cost  him 
$500  in  addition  to  eighteen  months'  time.  On  account 
of  Meek's  relationship  to  the  secretary  of  the  President, 
and  to  the  President  himself,  he  was  freely  received  at  the 
White  House,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  social  friends  was 
fitted  out  in  a  dress  suit,  and  with  his  handsome  appear 
ance  and  gift  of  story-telling  became  the  social  lion  of  the 
season.  Congress  had  been  deeply  impressed  with  Judge 

J  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  vol. 
vi,  pp.  2434-2436. 

135 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Thornton  and  with  the  reliable  statements  of  "Squire" 
Ebberts.  It  voted  $10,000  to  cover  the  expenses  of  Thorn 
ton,  Meek,  and  Ebberts  and  for  the  purpose  of  a  few  pres 
ents  to  the  Indians;  and  it  was  understood  that  Thornton, 
who  must  be  absent  about  two  years,  was  to  have  some 
compensation  for  his  services.  The  treasurer  of  the  United 
States  on  a  certified  bill  of  expenses  paid  Thornton  $2,750 
and  gave  Meek  $7,250 — and  Ebberts  and  the  Indians  got 
the  balance!  When  Meek  recovered  from  his  indulgences 
and  returned  to  Oregon,  he  had  nothing  to  divide  with 
Ebberts,  and  neither  Ebberts  nor  his  descendants  have 
received  to  this  day  compensation  or  expenses  for  one  of 
the  most  heroic  rides  in  America.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
add  that  neither  Governor  Abernethy  nor  the  Methodist 
Mission  ever  received  back  the  money  they  advanced 
toward  Meek's  expenses.  Nevertheless,  we  are  forced  to 
admit  that,  with  the  wit  and  manners  and  braggadocio 
of  a  Falstaff,  Meek  had  great  courage  and  common  sense 
and  power  of  initiative;  and  on  account  of  his  acquaint 
ance  and  kinship  with  the  President,  no  other  man  in 
Oregon  could  have  made  this  journey  and  secured  govern 
ment  aid  with  equal  speed  and  success. 

Captain  Drannan.3  This  scout  and  hunter  was  born 
on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  January  30,  1832,  of  French  par 
ents  on  their  way  to  the  United  States.  His  parents  dying 
in  a  plague,  the  child  grew  up  until  he  was  fifteen  years 
old  under  the  care  of  a  bachelor  and  was  then  adopted  by 
the  famous  hunter  Kit  Carson.  May  3,  1847,  at  the  age 
of  fifteen,  he  killed  his  first  wild  turkey  and  a  little  later 
his  first  buffalo.  With  his  Uncle  Kit,  he  met  Indians 

3  Drannan,  Thirty-One  Years  on  the  Plains  and  in  the 
Mountains. 

136 

i 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

and  in  addition  to  French  and  English,  soon  learned 
enough  of  the  Chinook  jargon  to  converse  with  them.  As 
this  jargon  originated  with  the  missionaries  and  the  trap 
pers  of  Oregon,  he  was  thus  early  brought  into  contact 
with  them.4  His  Uncle  Kit  took  him  and  a  Mr.  Hughes 
into  South  Park  to  spend  the  winter  in  trapping.  They 
constructed  a  rude  "dug-out"  for  their  winter  shelter. 
Uncle  Kit  and  Mr.  Hughes  then  started  back  to  the  last 
cache,  twenty-one  miles  distant,  for  one  hundred  pounds 
each  of  additional  baggage,  instructing  the  boy  to  kill  a 
young  deer  and  prepare  it  for  the  late  evening  meal.  While 
hunting  deer,  young  Drannan  saw  three  Indians  traveling 
along  the  ridge  in  the  direction  of  the  dug-out.  He  had 
heard  his  Uncle  Kit  tell  of  Indians  robbing  cabins,  so 
with  a  total  lack  of  conscience,  matched  by  an  equal  lack 
of  fear,  the  fifteen-year-old  boy  decided  to  kill  the  three 
Indians.  Crawling  behind  a  log  and  taking  careful  aim, 
he  brought  down  the  leader.  The  Indians  fell  to  their 
knees  and  carefully  looked  around.  The  wind  blowing 
from  them  and  over  the  ridge  on  which  the  boy  was  lying 
carried  the  smoke  out  of  sight  and  he  loaded  his  rifle,  lying 
on  his  back,  as  his  Uncle  Kit  had  taught  him  to  do.  When 
the  two  Indians  arose  and  were  standing,  bows  and  arrows 
in  their  hands,  looking  for  the  enemy,  he  succeeded  in 
killing  the  second  one,  whereupon  the  third  fled  in  great 
terror.  "I  had  never  seen  an  Indian  scalped,  but  had  often 
heard  how  it  was  done,  so  I  pulled  out  my  hunting-knife 
and  took  their  topknots  and  started  for  the  dug-out,  a 
great  hunter  and  Indian  fighter  in  my  own  estimation." 
As  soon  as  the  two  men  returned,  the  boy  poured  out  his 

*  Drannan,    Thirty-One   Years   on   the   Plains   and   in    the 
Mountains,  p.  42. 

137 


THE  OBEGON  MISSIONS 

story  and  showed  his  scalps,  when  Uncle  Kit  said,  "My 
boy,  don't  let  me  ever  hear  of  your  taking  any  such  chances 
again;  not  that  I  care  for  your  killin'  the  Injuns,  but 
you  took  great  chances  of  losing  your  own  hair."5  A 
little  later,  on  meeting  Fremont,  the  General  asked  whose 
boy  he  was.  "Uncle  Kit  replied  that  I  was  his  boy,  and 
a  first-class  hunter  and  trapper,  'and  he  shoots  Injuns' 
purty  well.'  He  then  related  the  incident  of  my  killing 
the  two  Utes."6 

Again  Drannan  tells  of  Kit  Carson,  two  other  men,  and 
himself  killing  seven  Utes  who  had  stolen  a  band  of  horses 
from  the  Arapahoe  Indians,  and  each  man  receiving  a 
horse  from  the  Arapahoes  in  return  for  their  trouble  and 
risk.  Mr.  Drannan  recognized  good  qualities  in  the  In 
dians  and  tells  of  two  Pima  Indians  who,  with  himself, 
restored  a  white  girl  whom  this  tribe  had  captured.  He 
adds,  "These  two  young  Indians  seemed  to  be  as  kind- 
hearted  persons  as  I  have  ever  met."7  Captain  Drannan 
goes  farther  in  his  recognition  of  the  good  qualities  of  the 
Indians,  maintaining  that  General  Eoss  broke  faith  with 
the  Indians  and  that  Captain  Jack,  the  Modoc  chief,  was 
treated  unjustly  by  the  whites.  "While  I  am  no  friend 
to  a  hostile,  I  believe  in  giving  even  an  Indian  that  which 
is  justly  due  him,  and  I  must  admit  that  all  through  this 
Modoc  War  I  could  not  help  in  a  measure  feeling  sorry  for 
the  Modocs,  particularly  Captain  Jack,  for  I  knew  that 
through  the  negligence  of  soldiers  upon  Lost  River  while 
there  catching  fish  to  keep  his  own  people  from  starving, 

6  Drannan,   Thirty-One   Years   on   the   Plains   and   in   the 
Mountains,  p.  61. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  68. 
'Ibid.,  p.  286. 

138 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

he  had  been  driven  and  dragged  into  this  war,  and  I  do 
not  believe  to-day,  nor  ever  did  believe,  that  Captain  Jack 
ought  to  have  been  hanged."8  Despite  this  testimonial, 
Captain  Drannan  captured  Captain  Jack  and  turned  him 
over  to  the  white  men  to  be  hanged.  His  sympathy  was 
much  like  the  sympathy  which  he  might  feel  for  a  mother 
wolf  or  bear  which  died  defending  its  young. 

That  men  of  the  intelligence  and  character  of  Kit 
Carson  and  Captain  Drannan,  honest  men,  men  who  used 
liquor  only  as  a  medicine,  men  who  saw  the  good  qualities 
of  the  Indians,  who  believed  in  a  Divine  Providence  and 
in  a  future  life,  could  show  such  utter  lack  of  conscience 
in  regard  to  killing  Indians  as  to  mention  with  pride  the 
number  that  they  killed,  Captain  Drannan's  reaching  more 
than  forty,  shows  the  need  and  the  difficulties  of  mission 
ary  labor  in  the  Oregon  Country.  We  could  duplicate  this 
utterly  pagan  attitude  toward  the  Indians  by  scores  of 
similar  stories.  This  sketch  of  Captain  Drannan  is  needed 
to  reveal  the  prevailing  attitude  of  American  pioneers  that 
"The  only  good  Indian  is  a  dead  Indian."  It  shows  the 
absolute  necessity  of  Lee  and  Whitman  inducing  Christian 
families  to  settle  in  Oregon  in  order  that  there  might  be 
at  least  a  partially  Christian  environment  in  which  the 
Indians  might  be  converted  and  civilized.  At  the  same 
time  it  reveals  almost  insuperable  barriers  in  the  way  of 
missionary  labor  among  the  Indians. 

J.  Q.  Thornton.  Service  of  a  high  type  was  rendered 
the  territory  of  Oregon  at  Washington  by  J.  Q.  Thornton. 
Mr.  Thornton  came  to  Oregon  in  1846,  where  his  character 
and  abilities  led  almost  immediately  to  his  selection  as 

8  Drannan,  Thirty-One  Years  on  the  Plains  and  in  the 
Mountains,  p.  587. 

139 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Before  the  massacre  of 
Dr.  Whitman  and  the  Cayuse  war,  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  country,  the  increasing  hostility  of  the  Indians,  the 
disturbances  by  the  Molallas,  by  the  Walla  Wallas9  at 
Battle  Creek  and  the  Wascoes  at  The  Dalles,  the  failure 
of  the  government  at  Washington  to  recognize  the  pro 
visional  government  of  Oregon  or  to  make  any  other  pro 
vision  for  the  control  of  the  Oregon  territory,  save  the 
appointment  of  Dr.  White,  which  was  not  regarded  seri 
ously  by  the  Oregonians,  led  Governor  Abernethy,  at  the 
request  of  some  leading  citizens,  and  especially  of  Dr. 
Whitman,  to  appoint  Judge  Thornton  a  delegate  to  Wash 
ington  to  secure  favorable  action  for  Oregon.10  As  busi 
ness  was  transacted  by  barter,  there  was  no  money  in  the 
treasury  of  the  provisional  government.  But  the  Rev. 
George  Gary,  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Missions, 
gave  the  Judge  a  draft  on  the  Missionary  Society  in  New 
York  for  $150,  and  Noyes  Smith  gave  or  loaned  Judge 
Thornton  fifty  barrels  of  flour  with  permission  to  sell  the 
flour  at  San  Francisco  and  use  the  funds.  In  addition, 
Governor  Abernethy,  M.  M.  McCarver,  and  Samuel  Parker 
jointly  signed  a  note  for  $300  which  was  given  to  Thorn 
ton.  Judge  Thornton  started  by  ship  October  19,  1847, 
and  reached  Boston  May  14,  1848.  When  he  arrived  at 
Washington  he  found  that  Mr.  Ritchie,  whose  son  had  been 
with  Thornton  in  college,  was  editing  the  organ  of  the 
administration;  later  Ritchie  gave  Thornton  a  very  favor 
able  notice  in  the  paper.  Senators  Benton  and  Stephen 

•Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  iii,  p.  301. 

10  For  the  following  account  of  Judge  Thornton's  services 
I  am  indebted  to  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol. 
ii,  chap.  62. 

140 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

A.  Douglas  called  upon  him  and  promised  aid,  and  Doug 
las  introduced  him  to  President  Polk,  who  listened  eagerly 
to  the  news  from  Oregon.  The  news  from  the  new  govern 
ment  awakened  public  interest  and  admiration.  "There 
was  an  anomaly  in  the  case  of  Oregon  that  commanded 
the  admiration  of  the  world  and  secured  for  the  represen 
tative  of  this  region  universal  attention  and  respect.  A 
handful  of  Americans,  who  seemed  animated  as  much  by 
patriotic  as  personal  feeling,  had  taken  their  leave  of 
civilized  life,  and  with  their  household  penates,  had  crossed 
the  wilderness  of  the  mid-continent  to  make  homes  on  the 
banks  of  the  Oregon.  Their  presence  had  settled  the 
dispute  as  to  boundary  and  had  terminated  the  long  period 
of  joint  occupancy.  The  world  read  of  this  immigration 
to  the  Pacific  with  almost  reverence  for  the  few  who  dared 
so  much  and  had  reclaimed  the  beautiful  region  by  the 
Pacific,  not  only  from  savagery  but  from  British  rule  and 
occupation.  The  advent  in  Washington  of  one  of  these 
greater  than  Argonauts,  as  a  representative  of  his  fellow 
Oregonians,  who  had  only  reached  the  national  capital 
by  half  circumnavigating  the  entire  world,  the  fact  of  a 
growing  community  so  remote  from  trade  that  they  had 
no  money  and  had  only  actual  barter  and  exchange  of 
products  to  depend  on — all  this  cast  a  glamour  of  romance 
over  the  much-voyaging  representative  of  far-off  Oregon, 
and  made  his  presence  at  Washington  not  only  a  welcome 
event,  but  gave  him  influence  and  personal  magnetism  and 
power  that — most  fortunately  for  Oregon — he  proved  him 
self  wise  enough  to  use  to  good  advantage."11 

Judge  Thornton  drafted  a  land  bill  giving  a  section  of 

11  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  pp.  702, 
703. 

141 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

land  to  the  head  of  every  family  settling  in  Oregon  and 
setting  aside  two  sections  of  every  township  for  public 
education.  Congress  on  organizing  the  territories  had 
never  granted  more  than  one  section  of  land  in  each  town 
ship  for  the  public  schools.  She  had  just  refused  the 
request  of  Wisconsin  Territory  for  two  sections  of  each 
township  for  schools,  and  in  the  same  bill  which  provided 
for  the  organization  of  the  Oregon  Territory  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  Territories  of  California  and  New  Mexico  was 
included,  but  with  no  grant  at  all  for  public  schools.  Judge 
Thornton  secured  from  Calhoun  a  promise  not  to  oppose 
the  school  grant  in  the  bill.  Calhoun  said  he  preferred 
no  free  schools,  and  he  did  not  support  the  bill  as  a  whole 
because  Thornton  had  incorporated  in  the  bill  admitting 
Oregon  the  famous  anti-slavery  clause  found  in  the  Ordi 
nance  of  1787.  Thornton  incorporated  the  clause  because 
it  was  in  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  provisional  gov 
ernment  and  also  embodied  his  own  convictions.  The 
slavery  interests  approached  Thornton  with  the  promise 
of  unanimous  support  for  the  Oregon  Bill  if  Thornton 
would  leave  out  the  clause  forbidding  slavery.  Thornton 
refused,  and  the  bill  became  one  of  the  milestones  in  the 
struggle  in  the  United  States  Senate  between  the  forces 
of  freedom  and  of  slavery.  Diplomatic  representatives 
from  every  court  in  Europe  were  present  and  the  galleries 
were  packed  to  hear  the  two-hour  speech  of  Senator  Tom 
Corwin,  of  Ohio,  whose  eloquence  in  extemporaneous 
debate  was  equaled  by  few  and  excelled  by  none.  Not  a 
sound  was  heard  save  an  occasional  catching  of  breath 
by  a  listener,  and  not  a  movement  was  seen  save  an  occa 
sional  twitching  of  the  muscles  of  an  opponent's  face  as 
Corwin,  beginning  with  the  Ordinance  of  1787  and  closing 

142 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

with  the  proposed  constitution  of  the  new  territory,  poured 
forth  his  plea  for  human  freedom.  At  the  close  of  the 
speech  the  Senate  sat  spellbound  apparently  for  some  time, 
when,  on  motion,  the  body  adjourned  and  the  dazed  com 
pany  slowly  poured  out  of  the  Senate  chamber.  Thornton 
says,  "The  elder  Ritchie  nervously  laid  his  hand  on  my 
shoulder,  and  with  lips  white  as  paper  and  quivering  with 
emotion  said,  'A  few  speeches  such  as  that  would  sever  the 
bonds  of  this  Union.'"12  It  was  from  the  day  of  the 
debate  and  the  vote  on  the  Oregon  question  that  the  thought 
of  withdrawal  from  the  Union  began  to  take  formal  shape 
in  the  minds  of  Southerners,  though  it  had  often  been 
suggested  before. 

The  debate  was  also  the  beginning  of  the  break  in  the 
Democratic  party  which  resulted  in  Lincoln's  election. 
The  provisional  government  having  excluded  slavery, 
Douglas  acted  on  his  "Popular  Sovereignty"  theory,  which 
was  the  theory  of  territorial  option  on  the  slavery  question, 
and  voted  for  the  organization  of  the  territory.  But  in 
due  time  the  organization  of  the  Oregon  Territory  was 
followed  by  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  gave  slavery 
a  national  standing  under  the  constitution  and  made  it 
the  duty  of  Northern  as  well  as  Southern  citizens  to  assist 
in  its  preservation.  Lincoln,  who  was  a  thousand  miles 
from  Congress  in  an  obscure  law  office  in  Illinois,  saw 
more  clearly  than  Douglas  the  rift  between  Douglas's 
position  and  the  position  of  Calhoun,  who  antagonized  him 
in  the  Oregon  struggle  and  who  formulated  the  theory 
legalized  by  Taney.  Hence  in  the  famous  debate  of  1858, 
Lincoln  asked  Douglas  a  question  which  would  force  him 

"Quoted  by  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  iv,  p.  81.  See 
also  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  696. 

143 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

either  to  antagonize  the  people  of  Illinois  and  miss  the 
Senate,  or  else  to  reveal  the  fundamental  difference  be 
tween  his  view  of  "Popular  Sovereignty"  and  the  Calhoun- 
Taney  view  then  universal  in  the  South,  and  thus  miss 
the  presidency.  Lincoln's  friends  were  sure  Douglas 
would  take  the  side  of  "Squatter  Sovereignty";  they  ad 
vised  him  to  hint  that  Douglas  would  prove  the  tool  of 
the  Southern  Democrats,  but  with  no  vision  beyond  the 
senatorial  contest  begged  him  not  to  ask  a  question  which 
would  give  his  rival  the  coveted  opportunity  to  win  the 
support  of  Illinois.  Lincoln,  in  the  interest  of  honest 
speech,  which  in  the  long  run  is  wise  speech,  asked  the 
question;  and  Douglas's  ready  answer  in  favor  of  "Squat 
ter  Sovereignty"  was  received  with  tremendous  enthu 
siasm  throughout  Illinois  and  won  him  the  senatorship. 
Lincoln's  friends  in  sorrow  and  anger  felt  that  he  had 
been  too  honest  and  simple  in  debate;  they  told  him  that 
he  ought  to  have  known  Douglas  would  answer  as  he  did, 
and  that  he  had  lost  the  senatorship  by  his  question. 
"Yes,"  said  Lincoln,  with  satisfaction,  "and  Douglas  has 
lost  the  presidency  by  his  answer."  Douglas  should  have 
remembered  that  in  1848  the  Southern  senators — Calhoun, 
Foote,  Butler,  Hunter,  Mason,  and  Jefferson  Davis — had 
voted  against  his  "Popular  Sovereignty"  plea  on  the  Ore 
gon  question,  and  he  should  have  foreseen  that  his  answer 
in  1858  would  never  be  accepted  by  the  South.  But  the 
man  with  the  double  motive  sees  crooked.  Simpleness 
of  heart  is  the  price  of  vision;  and  Lincoln,  not  Douglas, 
saw  the  fateful  import  of  the  latter' s  hasty  answer  in  his 
Freeport  speech. 

Thornton's  refusal  to  compromise  and  the  triumph  of 
his  measure  were  due  to  a  mind,  a  heart,  and  an  ability 

144 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

to  win  friends  to  his  ideals  somewhat  resembling  Lincoln's. 
Without  Judge  Thornton's  presence  in  Washington  it  is 
clear  that  Oregon  would  not  have  received  the  grant  of 
two  sections  of  land  in  each  township  for  free  schools; 
without  Judge  Thornton's  presence  Oregon  would  not  have 
been  admitted  at  all  as  a  free  Territory  in  1848.  His 
influence  with  the  members  of  Congress  of  both  parties 
proved  strong  and  wholesome. 

After  the  passing  of  the  bill  President  Folk's  secretary, 
Knox  Walker,  brought  George  M.  Sanders  to  Judge  Thorn 
ton's  room,  and  after  introducing  him  immediately  with 
drew.  Mr.  Sanders  told  Thornton  that  Sir  George  Simp 
son  had  placed  in  his  hands  $75,000  to  be  used  where  it 
would  do  the  most  good  in  procuring  the  sale  of  the  Oregon 
interests  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  the  United 
States  government  for  $3,000,000;  that  a  treaty  had 
already  been  drawn  up  by  the  administration  for  the  pur 
pose  which  was  indorsed  by  the  majority  of  the  Cabinet; 
that  it  was  desirable  for  the  Cabinet  to  act  as  a  unit,  and 
that  the  opposing  members  would  favor  the  purchase  if 
Thornton  would  write  them  a  letter  indorsing  it.  After 
a  conversation  which  Judge  Thornton  made  two  or  three 
efforts  to  close,  Mr.  Sanders  offered  him  $25,000  if  he 
would  write  the  note.  Judge  Thornton  promptly  opened 
the  door  and  ordered  him  out;  then  after  due  deliberation 
he  sent  President  Polk  a  note  informing  him  that  the 
property  was  not  worth  one  tenth  of  the  amount  asked 
and  that  he  had  been  offered  a  bribe  of  $25,000  to  indorse 
the  scheme.  That  Thornton's  estimate  of  the  value  of  the 
property  was  substantially  just  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
twenty-one  years  later — a  period  during  which  property 
in  a  new  territory  usually  trebles  in  price — a  joint  commis- 

145 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

sion  of  the  two  countries  estimated  the  entire  fourteen 
pieces  of  property  to  be  worth  $650,000,  and  the  United 
States  government  paid  that  sum  for  them  in  1869.13 
Knox  Walker,  the  President's  secretary,  called  the  next 
day,  saying  that  on  opening  the  letters  to  the  President 
he  had  found  Judge  Thornton's  communication  and 
begged  Thornton  to  withdraw  it.  Thornton  refused,  and 
Walker,  in  his  distress,  told  Meek,  who  was  at  the  White 
House,  and  who  had  already  written  a  letter  heartily 
indorsing  the  purchase.  Meek  never  could  keep  a  secret, 
and  within  a  week  he  had  taken  the  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Herald  into  his  sacred  confidence  and  told  him 
the  entire  story.  Within  a  few  days  the  story  was  pub 
lished  by  that  excellent  newspaper.  While  executive  ses 
sions  of  the  Senate  are  supposed  to  be  secret,  yet  it  is 
believed  that  President  Polk  had  sent  the  treaty  purchasing 
the  interests  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  the  Senate 
for  ratification,  but  that  after  the  Herald's  exposure  he 
withdrew  it  from  the  Senate.  President  Polk  had  on  his 
own  initiative  offered  Judge  Thornton  an  appointment 
as  federal  judge  of  Oregon.  But  after  sending  his  letter 
to  the  President,  Thornton  found  his  welcome  to  the  White 
House  at  an  end,  and  never  received  the  appointment,  and 
never  received  a  penny  for  his  nineteen  months'  service. 
We  submit  that  in  ability,  in  character,  and  moral  influence 
the  services  of  the  unknown  supreme  court  judge  of  the 
provisional  government  of  Oregon  outweighed  those  of 
the  President  and  his  Cabinet. 

We  have  thus  portrayed  briefly  the  deeds  of  a  few  Ameri 
cans  who  helped  in  the  early  discovery  of  Oregon,  in  the 

"Johnson,  America's  Foreign  Relations,  vol.  ii,  p.  429. 

146 


EBBERTS,  MEEK,  DRANNAN,  AND  THORNTON 

early  settlement  of  the  country,  in  saving  the  land  from 
slavery,  in  laying  broad  foundations  for  education,  in  pre 
venting  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  preservation 
of  the  Union.  Time  would  fail  us  to  tell  of  Abernethy 
and  Applegate,  of  Burnett  and  Nesmith,  of  Matthieu  and 
Sublette  and  Shortess,  of  Wilbur  and  Boyce,  of  Ebez, 
Goldsmith,  Hilles,  Hines,  Edwards,  and  Shepard,  of  Clarke 
and  Eells,  of  Kilbourne,  Kelby,  and  Lang,  of  the  Beers, 
Belknaps,  Campbells,  Dennys,  DeVores,  of  the  Garrisons, 
Helms,  Holmans,  and  Howells,  of  the  Parishes,  Perkins, 
Starrs,  Smiths,  Spaldings,  and  Wilsons,  and  the  unnamed 
women,  "who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought 
righteousness,  obtained  promises,  .  .  .  from  weakness  were 
made  strong  .  .  .  turned  to  flight  armies  of  aliens.  Women 
received  their  dead  by  a  resurrection :  and  others  were 
tortured,  not  accepting  their  deliverance;  .  .  .  And  these 
all,  having  had  witness  borne  to  them  through  their  faith, 
received  not  the  promise,  God  having  provided  some  better 
thing  concerning  us,  that  apart  from  us  they  should  not 
be  made  perfect."14-  15 

"Hebrews,  11:  33-35,  39-40. 

18  For  partial  list  of  Oregon  pioneers,  see  Appendix  I. 


147 


CHAPTER  IX 
MISSION  WORK 

"THE  real  colonization  of  Oregon,  however,  the  move 
ment  which  Floyd  and  Benton  had  so  long  hoped  to  see 
under  way,  began  two  years  later  (1834)  with  the  arrival 
from  the  East  of  a  small  party  of  American  missionaries 
to  the  Oregon  Indians/'1 

It  is  significant  that  H.  Addington  Bruce,  the  able  and 
conscientious  writer  who  more  fully  than  any  other  person 
has  set  forth  the  services  of  Senators  Benton  and  Linn  and 
Congressman  Floyd,  nevertheless  says,  "Yet,  singularly 
enough,  until  that  time  the  great  danger  was  that  the 
United  States  would,  through  sheer  negligence,  lose  what 
undoubtedly  belonged  to  her."2  And  again,  after  describ 
ing  the  rich  territory  involved  in  the  contest,  Mr.  Bruce 
adds,  "This  it  was  that  the  United  States  all  but  lost  by 
reason  of  the  indifference  of  the  American  Government  and 
people."3  Then,  after  portraying  the  hopelessness  of  the 
efforts  of  Benton,  Linn,  and  Floyd  down  to  1832,  Mr. 
Bruce  introduces  the  Methodist  missionaries  with  the 
quotation  placed  at  the  head  of  the  chapter.  Mr.  Bruce 
was  criticized  for  attaching  too  much  importance  to  the 
work  of  the  missionaries,  the  critic  writing,  "It  seems 
probable  that  the  future  writers  of  Oregon  history  will  not 

1  Bruce,  The  Romance  of  American  Expansion,  p.  123. 
1  Ibid.,  pp.  106-107. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  108. 

148 


MISSION  WORK 

emphasize  a  present  popular  belief  that  there  ever  was 
great  danger  that  through  sheer  negligence  the  United 
States  would  lose  what  undoubtedly  belonged  to  her."  Mr. 
Bruce,  with  abundant  source  material  at  his  command, 
thus  answered  his  critic:  "It  may  well  be  that  some  new 
and  important  evidence  will  be  adduced,  but  I  do  not 
anticipate  that  it  will  revolutionize  the  present  judgment 
as  to  the  principal  actors  in  the  impressive  drama." 

The  facts  confirm  Mr.  Brace's  judgment  and  show  how 
the  missionaries  helped  overcome  the  claim  that  the  land 
was  worthless  by  furnishing  the  government  information 
in  regard  to  Oregon;  met  the  fear  of  a  second  republic 
by  demonstrating  that  there  were  no  more  loyal  and  de 
voted  citizens  of  the  American  republic  than  themselves 
and  the  American  settlers  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains 
who  organized  the  provisional  government  of  Oregon ;  and 
helped  overcome  the  preponderance  of  the  British  in  Ore 
gon  by  creating  the  first  tides  of  emigration,  which  enabled 
the  Americans  barely  to  outvote  the  British  in  the  crucial 
struggle  for  the  provisional  government  in  1843,  but  a  fetf 
months  later  gave  them  an  overwhelming  majority. 

When  the  Methodist  missionaries  reached  the  lower 
Columbia  in  the  fall  of  1834,  they  were  surprised  at  the 
mildness  of  the  climate  and  were  delighted  with  the  great 
extent  and  unsurpassed  fertility  of  the  Willamette  Valley. 
They  found  ex-employees  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
settled  upon  farms  on  what  is  now  called  French  Prairie 
and  living  with  Indian  wives.  They  found  the  supply  -of 
fish  at  the  Willamette  Falls  and  The  Dalles  of  the  Columbia 
apparently  inexhaustible.  The  large  number  of  Indians 
in  the  lower  Columbia  River  basin,  the  fact  that  they  were 
at  peace  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company — where  the 

149 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

missionaries  could  find  relief  in  case  of  need  and  supplies 
at  all  times — the  kind  of  welcome  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  the 
fact  that  it  was  practically  impossible  to  carry  back  to 
the  Flatheads,  seven  hundred  miles  in  the  interior,  supplies 
which  were  coming  by  ship,  and  the  presence  at  The  Dalles 
and  Willamette  Falls  of  Nez  Perces,  who  sent  three  of  the 
four  messengers  to  Saint  Louis  for  the  Bible,  and  of 
Chinooks  with  flattened  heads — the  providential  sign 
which  the  missionaries  were  looking  for — led  Lee  and  his 
colaborers  to  begin  work  among  the  Indians  in  the  Willam 
ette  Valley. 

They  built  at  French  Prairie  a  log  house  twenty  by 
thirty  feet  which  served  as  a  home  for  themselves  and  for 
some  Indian  children,  as  a  schoolhouse,  and  as  a  church 
and  hospital.  While  the  others  were  building  the  house, 
Cyrus  Shepard  took  charge  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
school  at  Fort  Vancouver,4  where  the  achievements  of  an 
Indian  boy  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  had  filled 
the  missionaries  with  enthusiasm.  They  opened  a  mission 
school  for  the  Indians  in  their  new  home  as  soon  as  it  was 
finished. 

Lee  wrote  to  the  Missionary  Society  December  18,  1834, 
telling  of  his  change  of  base  to  the  Willamette  Valley  and 
of  the  number  and  apparent  interest  of  the  Valley  tribes. 
He  gave  an  enthusiastic  account  of  the  country,  of  the 
mildness  of  the  climate,  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the 
abundance  of  fish  in  the  rivers.  To  enable  the  Mission 
to  care  for  the  Indians  and  to  become  self-supporting  as 
soon  as  possible,  he  urged  the  Missionary  Society  to  send 
out  a  physician,  a  blacksmith,  and  several  teachers.  The 

4  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  I,  p.  80. 

150 

m 


MISSION  WORK 

church  at  home  was  sorry  not  to  hear  of  the  discovery 
and  conversion  of  the  Flathead  Magi  who  had  visited  Saint 
Louis,  and  the  people  supposed  that  the  Indians  needed 
preachers  instead  of  blacksmiths.  But  the  Society  ac 
cepted  the  judgment  of  Lee  and  his  fellow  workers  and 
began  to  search  for  more  men  and  means  for  the  Oregon 
Mission. 

In  the  spring  of  1835  the  missionaries,  having  completed 
their  house,  inclosed  forty  acres  of  land,  broke  up  part 
of  it  and  put  it  in  wheat;  the  yield  was  forty  bushels  per 
acre.  This  enormous  yield,  with  equally  remarkable  yields 
of  the  various  vegetables  whose  seeds  they  had  brought 
with  them  and  planted,  revealed  to  the  missionaries  future 
possibilities  of  the  territory  of  which  they  little  dreamed 
when  they  started  out  to  convert  the  Indians.  But  while 
cultivating  the  land  as  a  part  of  their  program  in  order 
to  teach  the  Indians  farming  and  for  the  support  of  them 
selves  and  their  Indian  wards,  and  while  sending  home 
stirring  reports  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  their  energies 
were  engrossed  in  the  Mission  work.  They  built  an  addi 
tion  to  their  house  equal  to  the  original  and  filled  their 
building  with  Indian  children,  most  of  whom  were  orphans, 
and  continued  teaching  reading,  writing,  the  truths  of  the 
Bible,  farming,  and,  in  general,  Christian  civilization. 
But  their  success  was  not  equal  to  their  hopes.5  A  clear 
perception  that  the  Indians  must  be  taught  to  work  in 
order  to  achieve  civilization,  and  that  they  could  be  led 
to  work  only  by  example,  constrained  the  missionaries 
themselves  to  work  at  farming,  in  the  erection  of  a  barn 
thirty  by  forty  feet,  and  in  the  care  of  the  home,  as  well 


•Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  82,  83. 

151 


THE  OEEGON  MISSIONS 

as  to  engage  in  teaching  and  preaching.  They  arranged 
for  the  Indians  to  study  and  recite  half  the  day  and  to 
work  on  the  farm  the  rest  of  the  time,  thus  anticipating  by 
a  half  century  General  Armstrong's  wise  method  of  civiliz 
ing  the  red  man. 

As  soon  as  Cyrus  Shepard  returned  from  teaching  school 
at  Fort  Vancouver  he  took  charge  of  the  school  at  the 
Mission,  and  P.  L.  Edwards  opened  another  school  at 
Champoeg,  at  or  just  above  Willamette  Falls.  Teaching 
school,  preaching  the  gospel,  religious  conversations  with 
the  Indian  leaders,  working  on  the  farm,  in  the  erection 
of  buildings,  in  the  garden  and  in  the  home  with  their  » 
Indian  wards,  and  caring  for  the  sick  were  the  daily  duties 
of  Mission  life,  week  in  and  week  out,  month  in  and  month 
out,  during  all  the  years  of  missionary  work  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Narration  of  stirring  incidents  gives  an  entirely 
false  view  of  missions,  if  it  leads  or  even  permits  readers 
to  lose  sight  of  this  daily  discharge  of  routine  duties  which 
is  the  substance  of  missionary  life  and  service. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  lasting  services  which  Jason 
Lee  rendered  to  civilization  on  the  Pacific  Coast  was  the 
abolition  of  a  few  cases  of  slavery  which  had  already  ap 
peared.  On  the  tour  of  exploration  of  1804-06  Captain 
Clark  carried  a  Negro  slave  with  him  as  a  body  servant. 
The  very  month  the  Methodist  missionaries  reached  the 
Willamette  Valley  in  1834,  Louis  Shaugarette,  a  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  trapper,  died  and  left  three  half-breed 
orphan  children — his  wife  having  died  some  time  before — 
and  five  Indian  slaves.  Shaugarette  left  a  small  amount 
of  property  in  addition  to  these  slaves.  Dr.  McLoughlin 
urged  Jason  Lee  to  accept  the  property,  including  the 
slaves,  and  bring  up  the  children  in  the  home  he  was 

152 


MISSION  WOKK 

building.  Lee  refused  to  administer  the  estate  unless 
the  slaves  were  openly  set  free,  and  with  the  consent  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  who  practically  ruled  the  country,  their 
freedom  was  formally  declared.6  Dr.  McLoughlin  himself 
had  bought  Indian  children  with  benevolent  purposes,  and 
as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  work  had  begun  paying  wages 
to  them,  the  same  as  to  the  other  Indians  employed  by  him. 
He  approved  Lee's  action  and  was  confirmed  in  his  own 
purpose  of  giving  his  purchased  Indians  their  freedom. 
Thus  under  the  two  leaders  of  American  and  British  in 
terests,  slavery  disappeared  from  the  north  Pacific  Coast, 
and  Jason  Lee  helped  to  develop  in  this  distant  region  a 
civilization  which  in  the  later  crisis  contributed  some  share 
toward  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  preservation  of  the 
Union. 

We  have  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  the  Oregon 
pioneers  Lee's  organization  of  the  Oregon  Temperance 
Society,  which  took  place  in  1835,  and  the  success  of  his 
effort  to  persuade  Ewing  Young  and  Lawrence  Cannichael 
to  abandon  the  distillery  project.  As  the  missionaries  now 
came  into  longer  and  closer  contact  with  the  Indians  they 
recognized  their  filth,  their  immorality,  and  their  diseases, 
some  caught  from  white  men,  others  engendered  by  their 
own  filth  and  immorality.  Bancroft  says  that  more  than 
half  the  Indian  children  in  the  Willamette  and  Columbia 
Valleys  were  infected  with  syphilis.7  Above  all,  the  mis 
sionaries  were  impressed  by  the  unconquerable  laziness 
of  their  Indian  wards.  The  missionaries  were  forced, 
much  against  their  wishes,  to  recognize  that  the  noble  red 


"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  82. 
1 1bid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  82,  83. 

153 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

man  looking  for  the  white  man's  "Book  of  Heaven/'  which 
had  fired  their  hearts  and  the  heart  of  the  church  at  home, 
was  not  true  to  the  existing  realities.  At  times  they  won 
dered  whether  they  had  not  sinned  in  passing  beyond  the 
seats  of  the  Nez  Perces  and  the  Flatheads  who  uttered 
the  original  cry  for  light,  and  settling  in  the  Willamette 
Valley;  but  they  learned  later  that  the  experiences  of 
Whitman  and  Spalding  in  the  interior  were  similar  to  their 
own.  They  now  saw  that  it  would  take  years  of  patient 
teaching,  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept,  and,  above 
all,  example  after  example  in  industrial  training  and  in 
Christian  living,  to  bring  the  barbarous  Indian  nature  up 
to  the  nineteenth-century  standard  of  civilization.  They 
had  met  great  encouragement  at  the  start ;  the  Indians  had 
been  greatly  stirred  by  the  coming  of  the  white  men,  who 
apparently  had  no  other  aim  in  life  than  to  help  them,  and 
many  Indians  professed  conversion  and  were  baptized; 
and  some  of  the  converts  were  displaying  in  their  daily 
lives  some  at  least  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 

During  1836  and  1837  there  were  twenty-three  Indian 
and  halfbreed  children  in  the  home,  ten  of  whom  were 
orphans,  while  eighteen  adult  Indians  and  half-breeds 
attended  school.  Hence,  in  addition  to  the  large  numbers 
who  usually  came  to  religious  services,  forty-one  were  re 
ceiving  daily  instruction  and  being  trained  to  become  fel 
low  workers  with  the  missionaries  among  their  own  people. 
Most  of  them  learned  to  speak  some  English  and  to  read 
sufficiently  to  spell  out  portions  of  the  Bible  for  their 
people.  At  first  the  Indians  were  eager  to  pray,  but  the 
missionaries  found  that  with  their  inveterate  laziness  they 
regarded  prayer  as  a  magic  method  of  securing  food  and 
clothing  without  work.  One  day  an  Indian  asked  Perkins 

154 

2 


MISSION  WORK 

for  a  coat;  Perkins  replied,  "You  must  work  and  earn 
one."  "0,"  said  the  neophyte,  "I  was  told  if  I  took  your 
religion,  and  prayed  for  what  I  wanted  to  have,  I  should 
get  it.  If  I  am  to  work  for  it,  I  can  earn  a  coat  at  any 
time  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company."8  Another  Indian 
came  one  day  and  reported  that  his  whole  tribe  had  become 
Christians  and  learned  to  pray.  "My  heart  is  full  of  pray," 
he  said,  and  fell  upon  his  knees  and  began  a  broken  prayer 
which  was  very  touching.  But  he  stopped  in  the  middle 
of  his  petitions  and  demanded  clothes.  Thus  the  Indians 
were  perverting  the  most  important  means  of  promoting 
the  spiritual  life  and  were  using  prayer  as  magic  to  obtain 
food  and  clothing  without  work. 

To  meet  the  conditions  which  confronted  them  the  mis 
sionaries  from  the  beginning  attempted  to  impress  upon 
their  Indian  wards  two  doctrines:  first,  the  necessity  of 
trusting  in  Christ  and  obeying  him  as  the  condition  of 
eternal  salvation;  and,  second,  the  necessity  of  work,  and 
especially  of  farm  work,  to  meet  the  competition  of  the 
white  race,  which  the  missionaries  saw  would  be  drawn 
to  Oregon  by  the  marvelous  soil  and  climate. 

At  this  point  the  missionaries  were  met  by  another  dan 
ger  which  confounded  themselves  as  well  as  the  Indians, 
namely,  the  high  death  rate  among  their  wards.  Of  the 
fourteen  children  received  into  the  home  the  first  year, 
five  died,  five  through  fear  of  death  ran  away,  and  of  the 
remaining  four,  two  died  in  the  second  year.  Thus  out 
of  the  fourteen  children  first  received  into  the  home  the 
missionaries  had  only  two  left  at  the  end  of  the  second 
year  of  instruction.  The  history  of  the  Indian  students 


8  Lee  and  Frost,  Oregon,  p.  230. 

155 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

at  Dartmouth  College  and  at  Hamilton  College  repeated 
itself  in  an  aggravated  form  in  the  Willamette  Valley. 
Twenty-five  more  children  were  received  into  the  home 
in  1836,  and  sixteen  of  these  fell  ill,  apparently  of  malaria, 
but  the  disease  proved  to  be  a  form  of  diphtheria.  Through 
lack  of  accommodations  and  also  in  order  to  sepa 
rate  the  sick  from  the  well,  all  the  stricken  ones  were 
kept  in  a  single  room,  and  the  death  rate  was  fearful. 
Evidently,  the  missionaries  were  justified  in  appealing  for  a 
physician. 

We  have  thus  portrayed  the  difficulties  which  beset  the 
missionaries  from  the  start  in  their  effort  to  Christianize 
and  civilize  the  Indians.  The  Missions  of  the  American 
Board  at  Waiilatpu  and  at  Lapwai  opened  in  the  same 
encouraging  manner  as  the  Missions  in  the  Willamette 
Valley.  Owing  to  the  greater  isolation  of  the  Indians  at 
the  missions  of  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding  and  also 
to  the  stronger  constitutions  of  the  less  contaminated  In 
dians,  those  of  the  interior  stations  remained  more  con 
stant  in  the  Christian  life  for  a  few  years  than  did  the  In 
dians  at  The  Dalles,  French  Prairie,  and  Champoeg.  But 
the  reaction  during  the  next  ten  years  was  greater  among 
the  Indians  of  the  American  Board  stations  and  resulted  in 
the  massacre  of  the  Whitman  party.  The  missionaries 
of  neither  Board  realized  at  first  how  serious  were  the 
difficulties;  they  still  believed  in  the  possibility  of  the 
immediate  salvation  of  the  Indians  and  were  frequently 
encouraged  in  the  belief  that  the  Missions  would  prove 
an  incalculable  blessing  to  the  Indians  of  the  Pacific 
Coast.  But  they  also  believed,  in  the  more  rapid  trans 
formation  of  the  pagan  character  and  of  pagan  civilization 
than  New  Testament  experience,  with  its  examples  of  lust 

156 


MISSION  WORK 

invading  Christian  households  and  of  drunkenness  at  the 
Lord's  Supper,  warranted.9 

In  response  to  Lee's  appeal  of  December  18,  1834,  there 
arrived  in  May,  1837,  the  second  missionary  group.10  This 
group  of  reenforcements  was  soon  followed  by  a  third 
group,  who  failed  to  catch  the  earlier  boat,  but  reached 
Fort  Vancouver  September  7,  1837. n  The  hearts  of  the 
missionaries  beat  high  with  joy  as  they  now  looked  for 
ward  to  the  speedy  evangelization  of  the  Willamette  Valley 
and  the  establishment  of  civilization  within  its  borders. 
The  Misses  Susan  Downing,  Elvira  Johnson,  Anna  Pit 
man,  and  Margaret  Smith,  and  the  Mesdames  Alanson 
Beers  and  Elijah  White  were  the  first  American  white 
women  to  set  foot  on  the  Pacific  Coast ;  Mrs.  Jane  Beaver, 
an  English  woman,  came  with  her  husband,  the  Rev.  Her 
bert  Beaver,  chaplain  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at 
Fort  Vancouver,  in  the  summer  of  1836.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Beaver  returned  to  England  in  1838. 12  Jason  Lee  was 
informed  by  the  Missionary  Society  that  they  had  selected 
Miss  Pitman  as  a  suitable  woman  for  his  wife ;  and  before 
Miss  Pitman  sailed  she  received  a  hint  that  the  Society 
would  not  be  offended  if  she  married  Jason  Lee.  Miss 
Downing  and  Cyrus  Shepard  already  were  engaged.  Hence, 
some  six  weeks  after  the  arrival  of  the  boat  a  solemn  service 
was  held :  the  baptism  of  some  Indian  children  and  adults 
and  the  reception  of  the  adults  into  the  church,  a  sermon 

9 1  Corinthians,  11:  21. 

10  See  Appendix  I,  under  date  of  1837,  for  Second  Group  of 
Methodist  Missionaries,  pp.  287-297. 

11  See  Appendix  I,  under  date  of  1837,  for  Third  Group  of 
Methodist  Missionaries,  pp.  287-297. 

12  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  50-53. 

157 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

on  the  sanctity  of  marriage,  followed  by  the  marriage  of 
Jason  Lee  and  Miss  Pitman,  the  service  being  performed 
by  Daniel  Lee ;  then  Jason  Lee  united  Cyrus  Shepard  and 
Miss  Downing  in  marriage,  and  later  in  the  day  he  per 
formed  a  similar  service  for  a  Hudson's  Bay  employee 
named  Charles  J.  Eoe  and  Nancy  McKay,  a  half-breed 
daughter  of  Captain  McKay;  the  religious  service  closed 
with  a  love  feast,  in  which  not  only  every  Methodist  spoke, 
but  several  French-Canadian  Catholics  expressed  sorrow 
for  their  sins  and  their  purpose  to  lead  a  new  life ;  Charles 
J.  Roe  and  Webley  J.  Hauxhurst  were  baptized  and  re 
ceived  into  the  church.  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the 
third  group,13  H.  H.  W.  Perkins  and  Miss  Johnson,  who 
had  been  engaged  before  sailing,  were  united  in  marriage. 
On  the  arrival  of  this  group,  Lee  extended  the  activities 
of  the  Mission,  establishing  a  station  at  Wascopam  (The 
Dalles)  in  1838  with  Daniel  Lee  and  H.  K.  W.  Perkins 
in  charge.  In  1838  Jason  Lee  visited  Nisqually,  at  the 
head  of  Puget  Sound,  and  planned  a  mission  station  for 
that  point.14 

The  arrival  of  the  white  women,  of  a  physician,  a  black 
smith,  a  carpenter,  of  teachers,  and,  above  all,  of  home- 
makers  added  incalculably  to  the  serviceableness  of  the 
Methodist  Mission.  The  Indians  were  witnessing  priceless 
demonstrations  of  the  advantages  of  Christian  civilization 
and  of  Christian  family  life.  Meantime  American  in 
terests  were  being  instinctively  conserved.  As  already 
narrated,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  1838  furnished 
transportation  to  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  to  the 
Oregon  Country  to  win  the  hearts  of  the  Indians  away 

"Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  pp.  55,  56. 
14  Ibid.,  p.  106. 

158 


MISSION  WORK 

from  the  Congregationalists,  the  Methodists,  and  the 
Presbyterians  and  thus  remove  the  missionary  motive 
which  had  brought  the  Lees,  Whitmans,  and  Spaldings 
to  Oregon.  They  proposed  to  solve  the  religious  problems, 
exactly  as  they  had  solved  the  commercial  problem,  by 
capturing  the  field  from  their  competitors.  Indeed,  so 
confident  was  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  of  its  triumph 
in  1837  that  it  began  to  survey  and  plot  a  portion  of  the 
country  in  Puget  Sound  for  individual  ownership.  But 
Lee  also  was  forecasting  the  future.  As  early  as  January, 
1837,  he  wrote  the  Missionary  Society  in  New  York:  "I 
am  fully  of  the  opinion  that  this  country  will  settle  ere 
long,  and  if  you  can  send  us  a  few  good,  pious  settlers,  you 
will  aid  essentially  in  laying  a  good  foundation  for  the 
time  to  come  and  confer  incalculable  benefit  upon  the 
people,  which  will  be  felt  by  generations  yet  unborn."15 
Do  you  see  the  questions  involved  in  the  entrance  of  the 
lower  basin  of  the  Columbia  by  the  Methodists  in  1834 
and  of  the  upper  basin  by  the  American  Board  in  1836  ? 

15  Ibid.,  p.  129. 


159 


CHAPTEE  X 
LEE  AKOUSES  THE  EAST 

"HE  who  molds  public  sentiment  goes  deeper  than  he 
who  enacts  statutes  or  pronounces  decisions.  He  makes 
statutes  and  decisions  possible  or  impossible." — Lincoln. 

We  concluded  the  last  chapter  with  Lee's  letter  to  the 
Missionary  Society  urging  them  on  patriotic  as  well  as 
Christian  grounds  to  send  out  settlers  to  Oregon.  Lee  did 
not  let  the  matter  rest  with  the  formation  of  an  opinion^ 
and  the  dispatch  of  a  letter;  he  was  emphatically  a  man 
of  action,  and  his  actions  display  the  energy,  power  of  in 
itiative,  and  willingness  to  take  responsibility  which  char 
acterize  the  leader  of  men. 

The  Methodist  missionaries  united  in  the  conviction 
that  Lee  himself  ought  to  go  East  to  explain  the  changing 
conditions  to  the  Society  and  the  church,  to  secure  more 
recruits  for  the  Mission,  to  induce  American  Christians 
to  come  to  Oregon  as  settlers,  to  impress  upon  the  govern 
ment  the  peril  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States 
involved  in  her  neglect,  and  to  urge  the  administration 
to  provide  protection  for  Americans.,  On  account  of  the 
condition  of  his  wife  Lee  was  very  reluctant  to  leave  her, 
and  it  was  only  after  much  prayer  and  her  approval  and 
blessing  that  Lee  decided  to  make  the  trip.  Before  start 
ing  East  he  took  further  steps  in  the  interest  of  the  United 
States.  Already  he  had  sent  one  petition  to  the  govern- 

160 


LEE  AROUSES  THE  EAST 

ment  by  Slacum.  Now  he  and  P.  L.  Edwards  and  David 
Leslie,  all  members  of  the  Mission,  drew  up  a  second  peti 
tion  setting  forth  the  extent  and  remarkable  fertility  of 
the  country,  its  mild  climate,  its  certainty  of  speedy  settle 
ment,  the  advantage  of  the  Pacific  ports  for  trade  with 
China  and  India,  and  petitioning  the  government  at  once 
to  extend  its  laws  over  the  territory.  The  passage  in  regard 
to  the  trade  with  China  and  India  sounds  as  if  those  mis 
sionaries  anticipated  "the  guns  of  Dewey  at  Manila," 
whose  reverberations  sixty  years  later  were  heard  around 
the  world.  A  convention  of  the  settlers  was  called  in  1838 ; 
the  prospects  of  the  settlement  were  discussed,  and  the 
petition  was  adopted  and  signed  by  twenty-two  Americans 
residing  in  the  valley,  including  the  nine  missionaries  and 
J.  L.  Whitcomb,  employed  by  the  Mission  as  a  teacher. 
Lee's  personal  influence  was  such  that  in  addition  to  the 
American  signers'  he  induced  nine  French  Canadians,  ex- 
employees  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  to  sign  his 
petition  for  American  government.  This  is  the  petition 
mentioned  in  Chapter  VI  as  the  second  petition;  it  was 
presented  to  the  Senate  January  28,  1839,  as  the  petition 
signed  by  J.  L.  Whitcomb  and  thirty  others. 

Jason  Lee,  with  P.  L.  Edwards,  then  started  East  March 
15,  1838,  taking  three  half-Indian  sons  of  Captain  McKay 
for  an  education  and  two  full-blooded  Indians  to  aid  in 
his  campaign.  Lee  reached  Dr.  Whitman's  station  April 
14  and  spent  Sunday,  the  15th,  with  him.  The  conference 
was  full  and  brotherly,  and  it  is  incredible  that  Lee  did 
not  tell  Whitman  of  his  plans  for  an  American  government 
on  the  Pacific  Coast  as  well  as  of  his  plans  for  securing 
additional  missionary  reenforcements.  Thus,  Dr.  Whit 
man  probably  heard  of  Jason  Lee's  plans  for  American 

161 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

control  of  the  Pacific  Coast  four  years  before  he  started 
on  his  famous  ride  to  Washington. 

Lee  refused  to  travel  on  Sundays,  maintaining  that  the 
horses  would  cover  as  great  a  distance  by  one  day  of  rest 
in  seven  as  by  constant  travel,  and  his  convictions  won 
the  company  of  pioneers  with  whom  he  journeyed  to  the 
temporary  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day.  On  the  way 
East  it  was  learned  that  the  rendezvous  for  American 
traders  this  year  had  been  changed  to  an  island  in  the 
Popo  Agie,  a  branch  of  the  Wind  River,  and,  on  account 
of  the  danger,  the  other  travelers  decided  that  they  would 
not  attempt  to  reach  this  rendezvous.  Lee,  however,  with 
greater  courage,  decided  that  if  necessary  he  would  ride 
on  alone  to  the  meeting  place ;  one  after  another  each  mem 
ber  of  the  company  decided  to  join  him,  so  that  he  led 
them  through  a  particularly  dangerous  part  of  the  jour 
ney.1  He  met  here  five  men  and  four  women  of  the 
American  Board,  the  first  recruits  going  to  join  Dr. 
Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding;  and  they  all  united  in  a 
mountain  prayer  meeting.  On  September  1  the  company 
was  overtaken  at  the  Shawnee  Mission,  near  Westport, 
Missouri,2  by  the  courier  referred  to  in  Chapter  IV,  sent  by 
Dr.  McLoughlin  with  a  letter  to  Lee  informing  him  that 
the  little  son  who  had  been  born  to  him  had  died  June  7, 


1Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  pp. 
154,  155. 

'Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  170,  says  the  mes 
senger  overtook  Jason  Lee  at  the  Pawnee  Mission  near  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa;  but  Hines,  a  few  years  later,  visited  the  Shawnee 
Mission,  at  Westport,  Missouri,  and  was  shown  by  Mr.  Johnson, 
the  superintendent,  the  room  which  Jason  Lee  occupied  when 
he  received  the  news.  See  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest,  p.  156. 

162 


LEE  AROUSES  THE  EAST 

and  that  his  wife  had  died  June  26,  1838.  Anna  Pitman 
Lee  was  the  first  white  woman  to  die  in  Oregon,  and  her 
death,  far  removed  from  her  family  and  her  early  friends, 
without  proper  medical  care  or  nursing,  and  without  her 
husband's  presence,  was  full  of  heroism.  Dr.  H.  K.  Hines 
thus  describes  Lee's  receipt  of  the  news:  "Late  at  night, 
however,  after  he  had  retired  to  his  room,  and  while  he 
was  offering  up  his  evening  devotions,  his  door  was  un 
expectedly  alarmed.  On  opening  it  an  unknown  messenger 
put  into  his  hands  a  package  of  letters  and  immediately 
retired.  They  were  from  Oregon,  and  one  bore  a  black 
seal,  a  fearful  omen  to  his  eye.  He  broke  it  with  trembling 
hand  only  to  read  in  the  first  line  that  his  Anna  Maria 
and  her  infant  son  were  numbered  with  the  dead.  All  the 
light  seemed  to  go  out  of  his  life  in  a  moment.  It  seemed 
only  shadow ;  dark,  unrelieved,  blinding  shadow  all  around. 
.  .  .  The  night  was  spent  most  mournfully;  but  in  its 
darkness  the  strong  soul  had  received  greater  strength 
from  its  wrestling  with  self  and  sorrow  and  God.  In  the 
morning  his  dark  brow  had  a  deeper  shade,  his  eye  told 
a  tale  of  nightly  weeping,  but  his  calmed  spirit  breathed 
out  its  wealth  of  trust.  For  the  few  days  he  remained  at 
this  place  his  meek,  chastened  spirituality,  his  lofty  faith 
in  God,  his  manly  bearing  in  his  sorrows,  won  all  minds 
and  all  gave  him  the  throne  of  the  good,  great  man  in 
their  hearts."3 

At  the  Shawnee  Mission  Lee  began  preaching  and 
lecturing  on  the  Oregon  Mission  and  on  Oregon.  He  made 
a  campaign  like  that  of  Peter  the  Hermit  in  the  Dark 
Ages,  of  Bishop  Simpson  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 

8  Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  pp. 
156-157. 

163 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Church  in  behalf  of  the  Union,  1861-65,  and  of  Bishop 
McCabe  in  his  lecture  on  Libby  Prison — a  campaign  based 
on  religion  and  patriotism.  Lee  spoke  at  Saint  Louis. 
His  story  of  the  Mission,  the  presence  of  the  Indian  boys 
and  the  repetition  in  their  native  language  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  portions  of  the  Scriptures  awakened  great 
enthusiasm,  while  his  description  of  Oregon  helped  to 
create  the  emigration  which  later  saved  the  country  to 
the  United  States.  Lee  reached  Alton  September  13,  1838, 
where  the  Illinois  Conference  was  then  in  session.  Un 
announced  and  unexpected,  he  entered  the  church  like  an 
apparition  with  his  five  Indians  marching  behind  him. 
The  bishop  presiding  embraced  him,  and  his  speeches  and 
the  Indian  songs  and  prayers  deeply  stirred  the  audience. 
The  influence  of  Lee's  speech  and  conversations  finds  voice 
in  the  Alton  Telegraph's  issue  of  October  17,  1838,  which 
said:  "Citizens  of  the  West,  will  you  tamely  consent  that 
Oregon,  one  of  the  loveliest  regions  that  nature  ever  be 
stowed  upon  man,  shall  become  a  powerful  country  in  the 
hands  of  England  ?  If  Oregon  goes  from  us,  the  honor  of 
the  United  States  goes  with  it.  Never,  no,  never  yield."4 
In  the  issue  of  November  9,  1839,  it  comments  as  follows 
on  the  value  of  Oregon  to  the  United  States:  "It  would 
become  a  grand  thoroughfare  to  Asia  and  the  countries 
bordering  on  the  Pacific  Ocean.  ...  It  would  be  of  great 
advantage  to  the  Western  States,  and  cause  them  to  in 
crease  in  population  and  industrial  development  and  make 
them  the  center  of  this  great  republic.  .  .  .  Nothing  but 
the  power  of  Omnipotence  could  prevent  the  United  States 
from  becoming  the  leading  nation  of  the  world/'5  Evi- 

*  Quoted  by  Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  143. 
'Ibid.,  p.  144. 

164 


LEE  AROUSES  THE  EAST 

dently,  Lee  had  kindled  the  fires  of  patriotism  as  well  as 
of  religion. 

Jason  Lee  thus  spoke  at  many  places  through  Missouri, 
Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio,  and  reached  New  York  city 
October  31,  1838,  seven  and  one  half  months  after  leaving 
the  Mission.6  Through  the  illness  of  one  of  the  Indian 
boys  he  had  been  detained  a  few  weeks  at  Peoria,  Illinois. 
The  detention,  which  he  chafed  under  at  the  time,  fell 
out  for  the  advancement  of  American  influence  in  Oregon. 
It  enabled  him  to  make  the  addresses  and  hold  the  per 
sonal  conferences  with  interested  parties  which  helped  to 
start  to  Oregon  the  emigrations  of  1838,  1841,  and  1843 
— the  emigrations  which  secured  the  region  to  the  United 
States.  It  was  not  Lee's  visit  alone  which  created  this 
tide  of  emigration,  though  he  contributed  to  it  probably 
more  than  any  other  man.  The  first  ripple  of  emigration 
through  Lee's  initiative,  but  not  by  missionary  support, 
was  felt  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  in  the  autumn  of  1838.  A 
band  of  fourteen  persons,  among  them  Joseph  Holman 
and  Robert  Shortess,  was  formed  during  the  fall  and  win 
ter.  Their  motto  was  "Oregon  or  the  Grave."  They  gath 
ered  before  the  courthouse  about  May  1,  1839,  prayer  was 
offered  for  their  safety  and  success,  and  they  boldly  set  out 
on  their  long  expedition.  They  were  followed  a  little 
later  by  a  small  party  from  Quincy,  Illinois,  also  inspired 
by  the  speeches  of  Lee. 

At  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  the  Rev.  John  P.  Richmond, 
M.D.,  was  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He 
was  a  man  whom  Lee  at  once  greatly  desired  for  Mission 
work.  He  combined  the  qualifications  of  the  minister, 
the  educator,  the  physician,  and  the  statesman  in  a  remark- 

8Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  67. 

165 


THE  OREGON"  MISSIONS 

able  degree.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  and  had  completed  a  medical  course  in 
Philadelphia.  He  was  a  member  of  two  State  Constitu 
tional  Conventions,  was  superintendent  of  schools  for 
Illinois  for  eight  years,  was  speaker  of  the  Illinois  As 
sembly  when  General  John  A.  Logan  and  Chief  Justice 
Fuller  were  members  of  that  body,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Illinois  State  Senate  when  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
a  member  of  the  Assembly.7  Lee's  sermons  on  missions 
and  the  songs  of  his  Indian  wards  appealed  to  the  heroic 
element  in  Dr.  Richmond's  nature.  He  responded  to 
Lee's  appeal  to  go  to  Oregon;  and  before  starting  West 
helped  by  sermons  and  speeches  to  make  southwestern 
Illinois  the  classic  ground  for  Oregon  emigrants.  Lee 
gave  him  the  most  important  station  in  the  Mission — 
Nisqually,  at  the  head  of  Puget  Sound  and  not  far  from 
the  present  site  of  Tacoma,  the  buildings  for  which  had 
been  erected  by  the  Rev.  David  Leslie  and  W.  H.  Willson 
in  1839.  Had  not  his  discouragement  over  the  disappear 
ance  of  the  Indians  and  the  broken  health  of  himself  and 
his  family  led  to  his  resignation  from  the  Oregon  Mission 
and  a  few  years  later  to  his  retirement  from  the  ministry, 
Dr.  Richmond  would  have  proved  Lee's  strongest  helper 
in  missionary  and  patriotic  work.  As  it  was,  Dr.  Rich 
mond's  decision  led  such  men  as  Hillis,  Kelby,  Boyce, 
Ebez,  Goldsmith,  Lang,  Royal,  and  others  to  Oregon ;  and 
they  contributed  greatly  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  church 
and  the  commonwealth.  Dr.  Richmond's  interest  in  the 
work  continued  unabated,  as  a  letter  published  in  the 
Tacoma  News  of  April  8,  1884,  shows.8 

7Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  110. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  108. 

166 


LEE  AKOUSES  THE  EAST 

Lee  also  spoke  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  the  Sanga- 
mon  Journal9  in  the  issue  of  February  23,  1839,  published 
Lee's  memorial  to  Congress.  The  issue  of  March  9  has 
an  article  on  the  climate,  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the 
resources  of  Oregon;  the  issue  of  April  12  announces  the 
formation  of  the  Oregon  Emigration  Society  in  Peoria,  and 
similar  societies  at  Saint  Charles,  Missouri;  Michigan 
City,  Indiana;  Columbus,  Ohio;  while  the  issue  of  October 
12  had  a  long  article  describing  the  sailing  of  the  Lausanne 
with  Jason  Lee  and  the  missionary  party.  Also  the  Illinois 
State  Begister,10  then  published  at  Vandalia,  had  an  article 
in  its  issue  of  September  21,  1838,  based  on  one  of  Lee's 
addresses  and  describing  the  mild  climate  and  fertile  soil, 
the  work  of  the  missionaries,  and  the  importance  of  the 
country  to  the  United  States.  Its  issue  of  June  10,  1842, 
contains  an  article  saying:  "For  Oregon,  the  people  are 
in  motion.  .  .  .  The  expedition  includes  Dr.  White,  who 
goes  as  government  agent,  and  many  of  the  most  respect 
able  families  of  the  West  are  now  encamped  near  Inde 
pendence,  Missouri.  .  .  "  It  is  unnecessary  to  quote  more 
reports  from  the  Western  newspapers.  It  is  interesting 
to  read  that  a  few  years  later  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois, 
was  offered  the  first  appointment  as  governor  of  the  Oregon 
Territory,  and  through  the  interest  which  had  been  aroused 
by  the  Illinois  newspapers,  was  inclined  to  accept  the 
office,  but  finally  declined  it,  on  his  wife's  advice.11 

Jason  Lee  was  not  the  only  man  who  went  to  Oregon  and 
wrote  enthusiastic  letters  back,  not  the  only  man  who 


•  Ibid.,  pp.  141,  142. 

10  Ibid.,  pp.  142,  143. 

11  Charnwood,  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  95. 

167 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

returned  East,  but  he  is  the  only  man,  so  far  as  we  can 
learn,  the  record  of  whose  missionary  and  patriotic  zeal 
can  be  traced  through  twelve  States  from  Missouri  to 
Massachusetts,  from  the  District  of  Columbia  to  New 
England,  and  who  conducted  a  systematic  campaign  for 
emigration  to  Oregon  through  the  religious  and  secular 
press. 

The  letters  of  Cyrus  Shepard  and  of  Susan  Downing 
Shepard,  and  possibly  some  contributions  of  Lee  to  Zion's 
Herald,  led  the  Methodists  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  to 
organize  the  Oregon  Provisional  Emigration  Society  in 
August,  1838.  The  Society  published  a  monthly  magazine 
called  the  Oregonian,  and  secured  three  thousand  members, 
each  of  whom  consented  to  an  annual  assessment  of  one 
dollar.  The  four  officers  of  the  society  were  Methodist 
preachers,  and  ten  of  the  fourteen  members  of  the  Execu 
tive  Committee  were  also  ministers,  thus  showing  that  the 
movement  was  organized  under  Methodist  influence  and 
is  not  the  society  reported  as  organized  in  Boston  by  Hall 
J.  Kelley.  The  great  aim  of  this  organization  was  to 
induce  Christian  families  to  move  to  Oregon  and  save  the 
Indians  by  Christian  example  and  neighborly  aid.  It  was 
a  remarkable  program  in  applied  Christianity. 

Under  the  treaty  of  joint  occupancy,  the  conviction  grew 
on  both  sides  that  the  sovereignty  of  the  country  eventually 
would  be  determined  by  the  predominance  of  British  or 
of  American  settlers.  This  conviction,  along  with  later 
developments  along  the  line  of  this  conviction,  shows  the 
importance  of  Lee's  work  in  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa,  and 
Ohio,  New  York  and  the  New  England  States,  and  espe 
cially  the  value  of  enlisting  the  newspapers  in  the  cam 
paign  in  favor  of  the  Oregon  Country  and  in  favor  of  its 

168 


LEE  AROUSES  THE  EAST 

control  by  the  United  States.  The  Peoria  Party  of  1839- 
40,  and  the  party  with  which  Lee  reached  Oregon  in  1840 
were  wholly  due  to  his  visit  to  the  East  in  1838-39 ;  while 
Dr.  White's  party  of  1842  and  the  more  than  eight  hundred 
Americans  who  migrated  to  Oregon  in  1843  were,  in  a 
large  measure,  due  to  Lee's  visit,  to  the  petitions  which  he 
sent  to  Congress,  to  the  information  furnished  in  part  by 
him  and  published  by  the  government,  to  the  land  grant 
bills;  and  to  the  newspapers  of  Illinois  and  neighboring 
States  which  he  largely  enlisted  in  the  Oregon  enterprise, 
which,  indeed,  continued  the  agitation  long  after  his  de 
parture. 

Caleb  Gushing,  chairman  of  the  House  Committee  of 
Foreign  Relations,  and  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the 
United  States,  received  the  second  memorial  which  Lee 
himself  carried  from  Oregon;  he  wrote  to  Lee  for  fuller 
information.  Lee  replied  from  Middletown,  Connecticut, 
January  17,  1839,  giving  the  latest  information  in  regard 
to  Oregon  and  his  plan  for  securing  the  territory  to  the 
United  States  by  emigration.  He  closed  the  letter  with 
words  which  proved  prophetic:  "It  may  be  thought  that 
Oregon  is  of  little  importance;  but,  rely  upon  it,  there  is 
the  germ  of  a  great  state."12  We  have  already  furnished 
in  Chapter  VI  some  strong  illustrations  of  Lee's  influence 
upon  Congress.13 

But  the  most  striking  proof  of  Lee's  influence  was  the 
fact  that  the  government  granted  him  fifty  dollars  per 
person  out  of  the  secret  service  fund  to  aid  him  in  carrying 
back  the  missionary  party  in  1839. 14  This  amounted  to 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  173. 
18  Ibid.,  vol.   i,   p.   217. 
"Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  177,  note. 

169 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

about  $2,600. 15  Bancroft  thus  comments  upon  Lee's  influ 
ence  with  the  government:  "It  is  not  necessary  to  follow 
the  action  of  Congress  further,  in  this  place.  The  refer 
ence  is  here  made  to  point  out  the  agency  of  Jason  Lee 
in  directing  that  action,  and  the  strong  influence  he  seems 
to  have  wielded  in  Washington  as  well  as  with  missionary 
board.  How  much  his  suggestions,  especially  concerning 
land  matters,  molded  subsequent  legislation  will  be  made 
evident  in  considering  the  action  of  the  government  at 
a  later  period.  A  proof  of  the  favor  with  which  his 
designs  were  regarded  by  the  Cabinet  is  furnished  by  the 
appropriation  of  considerable  money  from  the  secret  serv 
ice  fund  for  the  charter  of  the  Lausanne,  as  related  by  one 
of  her  passengers.  Lee  kept  the  secret,  and  so  did  those 
who  gave  him  the  money,  until  the  boundary  question  was 
settled  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain."16 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  entire  reenforcements  of  Lee 
and  of  White  were  needed  to  establish  the  provisional  gov 
ernment  and  to  secure  the  territory  without  a  war,  it  is- 
doubtful  if  our  government  ever  made  a  wiser  use  of  the 
secret  service  fund  than  in  helping  pay  for  the  ship  which 
carried  Lee's  band  of  emigrants  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 
Jason  Lee  did  not  originate  Congressional  agitation  in 
behalf  of  Oregon.  As  shown  in  Chapter  VI,  this  began 
as  early  as  1821.  But  an  examination  of  the  Congressional 
records  shows  that  the  first  three  petitions  asking  the 


"Pacific  Christian  Advocate,  April  20,  1904  (quoted  by 
Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  67),  and  Hines,  Missionary  His 
tory  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  p.  201,  say  that  $5,000  was  ap 
propriated  from  the  secret  service  fund. 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  176,  177. 

170 

•    4- 


LEE  AROUSES  THE  EAST 

government  to  extend  its  authority  over  Oregon  were 
written  by  Methodists,  and  that  nine  of  the  twenty-six 
measures  inaugurated  by  the  government,  including  four 
of  the  nine  bills  introduced,  were  due  in  part  at  least  to 
Methodist  initiative. 

Lee's  influence  in  New  York  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  Missionary  Society  accepted  the  fundamental  changes 
in  its  policy,  namely,  the  change  from  pure  evangelism 
to  applied  Christianity  and  the  adaptation  of  the  Mission 
in  increasing  measure  to  the  whites  while  caring  for  the 
Indians.  The  Society  authorized  Lee  to  procure  and  take 
back  every  person  whom  he  asked  for,  and  gave  him  three 
more  ministers  than  Lee  himself  had  included  in  his  pro 
gram.  Upon  the  whole,  the  Society  sent  out  with  Lee,  on 
his  return  in  1839-40,  thirty-three  adults  and  nineteen 
children,  making  fifty-two  persons  in  all,  of  whom  five 
were  ministers.17  In  addition,  the  Society  authorized  the 
purchase  of  machinery  for  farming,  including  a  threshing 
machine,  the  iron  works  for  a  saw  mill,  for  a  grist  mill, 
and  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  so  as  to  render  the  mission 
aries  as  far  as  practicable  independent  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  enable  them  to  introduce  Christian 
civilization  among  the  Indians  and  the  whites.  To  accom 
plish  this  task  the  Society  made  a  grant  to  Lee  of  $42,000 
for  the  machinery  and  merchandise,  the  outgoing  expenses 
and  the  salaries  for  the  first  year — the  largest  grant  ever 
made  to  a  single  mission  thus  far  in  the  history  of  the 
Society.  The  Missionary  Society,  by  this  action,  both 
recognized  and  indorsed  Lee's  policy  of  introducing  Chris 
tian  civilization  into  the  country,  both  for  the  Indians  and 


See  Appendix  I,  under  date  1840. 
171 


THE  OBEGON  MISSIONS 

the  whites,  instead  of  the  narrower  policy  of  sending 
ministers  only  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Indians. 

One  more  illustration  of  Jason  Lee's  influence  over  men 
of  affairs  is  furnished  by  Bancroft.  The  Lausanne,  which 
Lee  had  chartered  for  the  fourth  group  of  Methodist  re- 
enforcements,  reached  Honolulu  on  April  11,  1840,  and 
remained  there  until  the  28th.  "During  their  sojourn, 
Lee  held  a  conference  with  Kamehameha  III,  relative  to  the 
exchange  of  productions  between  the  Island  and  Oregon, 
and  an  informal  treaty  of  commerce  was  entered  into,  to 
the  manifest  pleasure  of  the  king."  This  treaty  of  com 
merce  was  between  the  Hawaiian  government  and  the 
Oregon  Americans  whom  Lee  represented.  Lee  with  his 
customary  foresight  was  providing  for  the  commercial 
growth  of  the  new  commonwealth. 

We  believe  this  chapter  makes  clear  the  fact  that  Jason 
Lee's  influence  upon  the  country,  upon  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  and  upon  the  Missionary  Society  of  his 
church,  was,  upon  the  whole,  far  greater  than  even  he 
dreamed  of  exerting  when  he  set  out  in  1838  upon  his 
lonely  journey  to  the  East.  The  Divine  Providence  is  the 
key  to  history,  and  human  agents  are  effective  as  God 
works  in  and  through  them. 


172 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

S.  A.  CLARKE,  who,  upon  the  whole,  is  an  exceedingly 
fair  writer,  falls  into  a  strange  error  as  to  the  origin  of 
American  local  government  in  Oregon.  Mr.  Clarke's 
defective  and  in  part  misleading  account  springs  from  his 
reliance  upon  W.  H.  Gray,  whose  writings  Bancroft  charac 
terizes  as  wholly  unreliable.  Gray's  aim  was  to  magnify 
his  work  as  the  author  of  the  provisional  government  of 
Oregon.  Gray  did'  not  need  to  misconstrue  the  earlier 
work  of  the  Methodists  in  behalf  of  civil  government  in 
Oregon,  much  less  did  he  need  falsely  to  charge  them  with 
opposition  to  organized  American  government  in  the  Terri 
tory;  the  facts  show  that  the  efforts  of  the  Methodists 
resulted  in  only  a  partial  or  incomplete  government;  that 
the  help  of  the  so-called  "Wolf  Meeting"  called  by  Gray 
was  needed,  and  that  Gray  was  an  effective  and  perhaps 
the  most  effective  promoter  of  the  provisional  government 
of  Oregon.  Let  us  set  forth  fully,  fairly,  and  in  order, 
the  various  steps  taken  for  the  establishment  of  American 
government  in  Oregon. 

1.  The  Methodists  and  other  Americans  called  a  meet 
ing,  which  was  held  at  the  Methodist  Mission  at  Cham- 
poeg,  February  7,  1841,1  for  the  purpose  of  consulting 
upon  the  steps  necessary  to  be  taken  for  the  formation  of 
laws  and  the  election  of  officers  to  execute  them.  Jason 

1Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  92. 

173 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Lee  was  elected  chairman  of  this  meeting;  and  this  meet 
ing  was  held  two  years  before  the  so-called  "Wolf  Meet 
ing,"  which  is  often  named  as  the  first  meeting  held  for 
the  organization  of  American  government  in  Oregon. 

2.  Eight  days  after  this  meeting,  February  15,  1841, 
Ewing  Young  died.  As  he  left  considerable  property  and 
as  there  was  no  American  court  of  law  in  the  Oregon 
Country  for  the  administration  of  the  estate,  at  the  close 
of  the  funeral  all  present  were  asked  to  tarry  and  complete 
the  plans  discussed  February  7.2  The  meeting,  like  the 
funeral,  was  held  in  the  Methodist  church  and  Jason  Lee 
was  again  chosen  to  preside,  and  Gustavus  Hines,  another 
member  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  was  elected  secretary.3 
Indeed,  Bancroft  says  that  the  meeting  of  the  17th  was 
composed  chiefly  of  the  members  of  the  Mission.4  The 
meeting  passed  resolutions  to  form  a  code  of  laws  for 
the  government  of  the  settlements  south  of  the  Columbia, 
to  admit  to  the  protection  of  these  laws  all  settlers  north 
of  the  Columbia  not  connected  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  to  form  an  organization  with  a  governor,  su 
preme  judge  with  probate  powers,  three  justices  of  the 
peace,  three  constables,  three  road  commissioners,  an 
attorney-general,  a  clerk  of  the  courts  and  public  recorder, 
a  treasurer,  and  two  overseers  of  the  poor.  The  meeting 
nominated  a  committee  to  frame  the  constitution  and  code 
of  laws  and  to  nominate  men  for  the  various  offices.5  It 

'Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  pp.  650, 
651.  See  also  Hines,  Oregon:  Its  History,  Conditions  and  Pros 
pects,  p.  418. 

'Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  293. 

4  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  293. 

•Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  293. 

174 


THE  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

will  thus  be  seen  that  the  meeting  of  February  17,  1841, 
contemplated  the  organization  of  a  full  civil  government. 
The  meeting  adjourned  to  the  18th  to  hear  the  commit 
tee's  report. 

3.  February  18  the  French-Canadians  met  with  the 
American  settlers,  "To  propitiate  and  to  secure  the  co 
operation  of  the  Canadians  were  the  aims  of  the  leading 
Americans,  as  without  them,  or  opposed  by  them,  there 
would  be  difficulty  in  organizing  a  government."  "David 
Leslie  being  in  the  chair  with  Sidney  Smith  and  Hines 
as  secretaries,  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were 
presented  and  accepted  so  far  as  choosing  a  committee 
to  frame  a  constitution  and  code  of  laws  was  concerned. 
The  meeting  chose  as  the  committee  F.  N.  Blanchet,  Jason 
Lee,  David  Donpierre,  Gustavus  Hines,  Charlevon,  Robert 
Moore,  J.  L.  Parrish,  Etienne  Lucier,  and  William  John 
son."6  By  making  Father  Blanchet  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  the  Mission  party  hoped  to  secure  the  French- 
Canadian  Catholic  influence  and  to  harmonize  sectarian 
differences.  As  Lee's  was  the  one  name  considered  for 
the  governorship,  but  as  it  seemed  unwise  to  elect  the  head 
of  the  Methodist  Mission  to  this  office,  it  was  found  ex 
pedient  to  defer  the  election  of  a  governor,  and  the  con 
vention  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  other  officers.  I.  L. 
Babcock  was  chosen  supreme  judge  with  probate  powers; 
George  W.  LeBreton  clerk  of  the  court  and  public  re 
corder;  William  Johnson,  high  sheriff;  and  Zavier  Lada- 
root,  Pierre  Billique,  and  William  McCarty,  constables. 
.  .  .  "Until  the  code  of  laws  should  be  drafted  Judge 
Babcock  should  be  instructed  to  act  according  to  the  laws  of 

•Ibid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  293,  294. 

175 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

the  State  of  New  York."7  The  convention  then  adjourned 
to  meet  June  7  at  Saint  Pauls,  the  mission  station  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  A  partial  territorial  govern 
ment  was  thus  organized  February  18,  1841,  with  a  judge, 
clerk  of  the  court,  sheriff,  constables,  and  laws. 

4.  On  reassembling  June  7  it  was  found  that  Father 
Blanchet,  chairman  of  the  committee,  had  not  called  the 
committee  together;  on  the  contrary,  he  sent  a  letter  to 
the  meeting  asking  to  be  excused  from  service.  His  with 
drawal  was  taken,  as  was  probably  intended,  to  signify 
that  the  Canadians  had  decided  to  take  no  part  in  the 
organization  of  a  government.  Father  Blanchet's  resigna 
tion  having  been  accepted,  "W.  J.  Bailey  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  committee,  and  the  committee  was  in 
structed  to  report  to  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  con 
vention  to  be  held  on  the  first  Thursday  in  October. 

Prior  to  the  October  meeting,  Dr.  McLoughlin  advised 
against  the  organization  of  a  government.  Lieutenant 
Wilkes  was  in  Oregon  in  charge  of  an  exploring  expedition 
for  the  United  States  government;  he  had  been  the  guest 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  had  been  treated  with  great  hos 
pitality  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  we  believe  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Dr.  Mc 
Loughlin  had  placed  guides  and  boats  and  all  other  aids 
which  it  was  possible  to  procure  at  the  service  of  the 
scientists  of  the  party.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  for 
Lieutenant  Wilkes  to  share  Dr.  McLoughlin's  view,  and 
he  also  advised  against  the  scheme.  Bancroft  says :  "Find 
ing  themselves  baffled  at  every  turn,  but  encouraged  to 
believe  that  the  United  States  government  would  soon 


'Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  294. 

176 


THE  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

extend  its  jurisdiction  over  them,  the  missionary  party 
now  reluctantly  consented  to  let  drop  their  political  scheme 
for  the  present."8  Nevertheless  an  incomplete  but  real 
civil  government  had  been  organized  by  the  settlers  in  the 
Willamette  Valley  in  the  four  meetings  which  we  have 
described;  and  an  American  government,  independent  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  was  thus  formed.  Dr.  I.  L. 
Babcock  had  been  elected  Supreme  Court  judge  with  pro 
bate  powers  and  during  the  next  two  years  he  was  the 
<fhead  and  front  of  the  infant  State/'  as  Clarke  himself 
admits.9  He  administered  the  estate  of  Ewing  Young  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned.10 

Owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
and  the  Roman  Catholics  the  convention  probably  did  not 
meet  in  October;  at  least  no  record  of  the  October  meeting 
has  been  found.  But  the  subject  continued  to  be  discussed 
through  the  winter  of  1842-43  by  a  debating  society  said 
to  have  been  organized  in  Oregon  City  for  this  purpose.11 
The  question  of  establishing  a  government  independent 
of  both  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  was  said  to 
have  been  favored  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  several  Ameri 
can  colonists.  Hastings,  an  American  who  came  with 
Dr.  White's  party,  but  was  strongly  opposed  to  White, 
went  so  far  as  to  offer  a  resolution  in  favor  of  the  plan. 
George  Abernethy,  treasurer  of  the  Methodist  Mission, 
offered  as  a  substitute  the  following :  "If  the  United  States 
extends  its  jurisdiction  over  this  country  within  four 
years,  it  will  not  be  expedient  to  form  an  independent 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  296. 

•Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  655. 
10  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  655. 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  296. 

177 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

government''    This  resolution  was  warmly  discussed  and 
finally  carried.12 

5.  In  the  autumn  of  1842  overtures  were  again  made 
to  the  Canadians  to  join  in  a  temporary  government,  and 
a  meeting  to  consider  the  matter  was  held  at  French 
Prairie.  The  Canadians  declined,  presumably  upon  the 
advice  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  Father  Blanchet.  Mc- 
Loughlin  saw  that  to  aid  or  countenance  the  establishment 
of  a  government  owing  exclusive  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  would  be  disloyal  to  his  country  and  his  Company. 
Independent  government  would  be  preferable  to  this; 
though  there  was  danger  that  such  an  organization  might 
fall  under  the  control  of  Americans  and  might  enact  laws 
inimical  to  his  unsettled  claim  to  land  at  Willamette  Falls, 
south  of  the  Columbia  River.  Hence  he  tried  to  avoid  the 
issue  until  the  matter  of  sovereignty  could  be  settled.  The 
Canadians  made  a  formal  reply,  professing  cordial  senti 
ments  toward  the  Americans,  declaring  they  were  in  favor 
of  certain  regulations  for  the  protection  of  persons  and 
property,  and  that  they  were  willing  to  yield  obedience 
to  the  officers  chosen  February  18,  1841,  although  they 
did  not  approve  of  all  their  measures.  They  declined  to 
address  a  petition  to  the  United  States  to  solicit  aid  until 
the  boundary  should  be  established.  They  opposed  taxa 
tion,  but  favored  a  council  or  senate  similar  to  the 
Canadian  Parliament.  This  answer  was  directed  to  the 
sixth  meeting  to  be  held  at  Champoeg,  March  4,  1843.13 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  while  the  opposition  of  Father 
Blanchet,  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and  Lieutenant  Wilkes  pre 
vented  the  meeting  of  October,  1841,  for  the  adoption 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  297. 
"Ibid.,  voL  i,  pp.  298,  299. 

178 


THE  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

of  a  constitution,  nevertheless  the  officers  elected  by  the 
American  settlers  in  February,  1841,  were  accepted  by 
the  Canadian  settlers,  and  that  a  sixth  meeting  was  called 
for  the  further  discussion  and  settlement  of  problems  of 
local  government.  It  is  thus  clear  that  the  plans  for  a 
government  started  by  the  Methodists  in  1841  had  not 
come  to  naught,  that  they  had  resulted  in  five  meetings, 
in  the  election  of  American  civil  officers  whom  the  Cana 
dians  had  accepted,  and  in  plans  for  a  sixth  meeting.  It 
will  also  be  recognized  that  Jason  Lee  was  the  moving 
spirit  in  these  five  meetings. 

6.  At  this  point  W.  H.  Gray,  who  had  come  West  as  a 
mechanic  and  secular  aid  for  the  American  Board  Mission 
in  1836,  but  who  had  resigned  from  that  mission  and  come 
on  to  the  Willamette  Valley  in  1842,  and  who  was  em 
ployed  by  the  Methodist  Mission  as  a  carpenter  and  a 
teacher,  intervened.  He  wrote  and  circulated  a  petition 
for  a  meeting  of  all  the  settlers  February  2,  1843,  at  the 
Oregon  Institute,  the  Methodist  school  where  Gray  was 
employed  and  was  living.  This  meeting  anticipated  by 
a  month  the  sixth  meeting  called  for  March  4,  and  in 
reality  took  its  place.  From  this  time  forward  Gray  seized 
the  reins  from  Lee's  hands  and  led  in  the  struggle  for  the 
provisional  government.  Owing  to  the  discussion  of  Lee's 
name  for  the  governorship,  he  retired  from  the  active 
management  of  the  meetings.  But  some  were  jealous  of 
his  influence  with  McLoughlin  and,  as  we  shall  see  in 
Chapter  XIII,  Lee  was  at  this  time  unpopular  with  some 
of  the  Methodists.  These  facts,  together  with  all  absence 
of  self-seeking  on  Lee's  part  and  a  general  desire  of  all 
to  avoid  factionalism  and  a  general  willingness  to  support 
every  effort  looking  toward  American  government,  gave 

179 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Gray  his  opportunity.  It  is  only  just  to  Gray  to  say  that 
he  managed  with  wisdom  the  meeting  of  February  2,  1843. 
This  meeting  appointed  a  committee  of  six  to  circulate  a 
notice  for  a  meeting  of  all  citizens  in  the  Willamette  Valley 
at  the  home  of  Joseph  Gervais  on  March  6  to  devise  means 
for  the  protection  of  flocks  and  herds  from  the  ravages  of 
wolves. 

7.  This  became  the  seventh  meeting  held  by  the  Ameri 
cans  in  the  interest  of  civil  government.    By  general  acqui 
escence  the  meeting  of  March  4  was  allowed  to  lapse  with 
the  understanding  upon  the  part  of  some  at  least  that  its 
object  would  be   considered  at   the   "Wolf  Meeting"   of 
March  6.    As  soon  as  the  meeting  of  March  6  had  agreed 
upon  a  bounty  for  wolves,  W.  H.  Gray,  by  an  understand 
ing  with  the  chairman,  introduced  the  subject  of  better 
protection  for  the  settlers  as  well  as  for  their  live  stock, 
and  he  made  a  very  able  plea  for  a  committee  of  twelve  to 
devise  or  complete  a  plan  of  government.     Gray's  motion 
prevailed,  and  the  committee  was  appointed  and  reported 
to  the  second  meeting  called  at  Gray's  suggestion,  but  the 
eighth  meeting  in  the  series  in  favor  of  a  provisional 
government. 

8.  The  eighth  meeting,  which  was  held  May  2,  1843, 
was  attended  by  the  representatives  of  both  the  British 
and  American  sides.    After  an  earnest  debate  the  meeting 
voted  52  to  50  in  favor  of  a  provisional  government,  and 
such  a  government  was  organized  at  the  ninth  meeting 
held  May  3. 

Clarke  says :  "The  most  powerful  opponents  of  organized 
government  were  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the 
Methodist  Mission."14  Gray  represents  the  Hudson's  Bay 

"  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  660. 

180 


THE  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

Company  and  the  Methodists,  or  practically  Dr.  McLough- 
lin  and  Jason  Lee,  as  having  formed  a  government  in  1838 
and  as  preferring  this  autocratic  government  to  a  govern 
ment  of  the  people.  As  a  letter  by  Mrs.  Beggs  informs  us, 
the  Methodists  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  agreed 
upon  certain  regulations  for  the  settlement.  But  these 
regulations  wore  in  force  in  1841,  when  the  Methodists 
started  the  forward  movement  for  the  organization  of  a 
civil  government.  The  Methodists  would  not  have  started 
this  movement  had  they  been  satisfied  with  the  incipient 
government  of  1838  and  opposed  to  the  establishment  of 
a  civil  government  by  the  settlers.  W.  H.  Gray,  upon 
whose  book  Clarke  depends,  mistakes  some  criticisms  of 
his  own  plan  of  government,  and  of  his  indirection  in 
inducing  Canadians  to  attend  a  meeting  for  the  destruc 
tion  of  wolves  and  then  turning  this  meeting  into  a  move 
ment  for  American  government,  for  opposition  to  the  pro 
visional  government  per  se. 

Against  Clarke's  statement,  based  on  Gray  declaring 
that  the  Methodists  were  joined  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  as  opponents  of  the  provisional  government,  are 
the  following  facts: 

1.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Methodists  far 
outnumbered  all  other  parties  combined,  and  had  they 
been  united  in  opposition  to  the  provisional  government, 
such  a  government  could  not  have  been  organized. 

2.  The   Methodists  started   the  movement  for   a  pro 
visional  government  in  1841,  called  six  meetings  between 
1841  and  1843  in  favor  of  the  movement  and  took  the 
leading  part  in  five  of  them. 

3.  After  W.  H.  Gray  succeeded  Jason  Lee  in  the  leader 
ship  of  the  movement  for  American  government,  the  Meth- 

181 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

odists  still  cooperated,  Dr.  Babcock  presiding  at  the  sixth 
meeting. 

4.  At  the  seventh  meeting — the  so-called  "Wolf  Meet 
ing" — another  Methodist,  James  H.  O'Neil,  presided,  and 
five  of  the  committee  of  twelve  selected  to  formulate  the 
plan  for  the  provisional  government  were  Methodists. 

5.  At  the  meeting  of  May  2,  1843,  when  the  provisional 
government  was  adopted,  a   Methodist,   Dr.   Hines,  was 
chosen  to  preside.    At  the  convention  of  May  3,  when  the 
government  was  organized,  Dr.  Babcock,  another  Meth 
odist,  was  chosen  to  preside,  and  one  of  the  three  members 
of  the  Executive  Committee  was  Alanson  Beers,  of  the 
Methodist  Mission.   Also  W.  H.  Willson,  of  the  Methodist 
Mission,  was  elected  treasurer  of  Oregon  at  the  meeting  of 
May  3,  1843.     We  find  also  the  name  of  A.  E.  Wilson, 
who  was  elected  supreme  judge  as  a  subscriber  of  thirty 
dollars  for  the  erection  of  the  first  Methodist  church  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  thus  showing  that  whether  he  was  a 
member  of  the  church  or  not,  he  was  a  supporter  of  it15 
G.  W.  LeBreton,  elected  clerk  of  the  court,  had  come  to 
Oregon  through  Lee's  letters  to  the  Cushings  and  is  also 
found  in  the  list  of  subscribers  to  the  Methodist  Church. 
Robert  Shortess,  elected  a  member  of  the  committee  to 
draft  laws,  came  to  Oregon  in  the  Peoria  party  through 
the  inspiration  of  Jason  Lee  and  soon  after  was  converted 
and   joined   the   Methodist    Church.16      Gustavus    Hines 
was  chosen  to  deliver  the  address  of  July  4,  1843,  and  in 
the  absence  of  Dr.  Babcock  presided  at  the  meeting  of 
July  5.     This  recorded  activity  of  the  Methodists  in  the 

"Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  p. 
254. 

"Ibid.,  p.  255. 

182 


THE  PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

two  meetings  in  which  the  provisional  government  was 
organized  of  itself  disposes  of  Gray's  statement  made 
years  later  that  the  Methodists  were  opposed  to  the  pro 
visional  government. 

6.  The  Methodists  furnished  the  house  for  the  meetings 
of  the  provisional  government  of  May  16-19  and  June  27, 
28,  and  that  of  July  5.17     Again,  Clarke  states  that  one 
of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  success  of  the  provisional 
government  was  the  unwillingness  of  the  settlers  to  levy  a 
tax  upon  themselves  for  the  support  of  it,  but  he  adds: 
"Messrs.  Beers,  Parrish,  and  Babcock  [of  the  Methodist 
Mission]   engaged  to  see  that  board  was  provided  them 
[the  lawmakers]  ;  and  the  old  granary  of  the  Methodist 
Mission  was  offered  as  a  legislative  chamber.    So  the  legis 
lative  department  of  the  provisional  government  was  put 
into  motion  without  a  dollar's  expense/'18 

7.  When  the  Executive  Committee  gave  way  to  a  gov 
ernor  on  June  3,  1843,  George  Abernethy,  treasurer  of 
the  Methodist  Mission,  was  chosen  governor,  and  held  the 
office  during  the  four  critical  years  until  the  United  States 
government  sent  General  Joseph  Lane  to  Oregon  in  March, 
1849,  as  governor  of  the  Territory.19 

8.  Clarke  furnishes  the  names  of  those  who  voted  for  and 
against  the  provisional  government.    We  cannot  trace  the 
religious  record  of  all  these  men.     But  so  far  as  we  can 
analyze  their  record  we  find  that  seven  of  the  fifty-two 
who  voted  for  the  provisional  government  were  Methodist 
missionaries,  four  more  were  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  five  were  subscribers  to  the  Methodist  Church, 

"Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  305. 
18  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  662. 
"Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  p.  156. 

183 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

though  we  do  not  know  whether  or  not  they  were  members, 
six  came  out  in  the  Peoria  party  as  the  direct  result  of 
Jason  Lee's  speeches,  seven  came  out  with  Dr.  White  as 
the  result  of  the  influence  of  Lee  and  White  and  of  the 
land  grant  bill  which  Lee  had  suggested.  One  was  an 
attache  of  the  Methodist  Mission  and  married  one  of  the 
Methodist  women  who  came  as  a  missionary,  while  one 
came  out  on  the  steamship  Maryland  as  a  result  of  Lee's 
letter  to  Gushing.20 

Deducting  three  names  counted  twice,  the  record  shows 
that  twenty-eight  of  the  fifty-two  voters  in  favor  of  the 
provisional  government  came  to  Oregon  or  remained  in 
Oregon  through  the  influence  of  the  Methodist  Mission. 
On  the  other  side  we  cannot  find  a  single  one  of  the  fifty 
men  who  voted  against  the  provisional  government  who 
came  to  Oregon  through  Methodist  influence  or  was  in 
any  way  connected  with  the  Methodists.  What  becomes 
of  the  claim  that  the  "most  powerful  opponents  of  organ 
ized  government  were  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
the  Methodist  Mission"?  Do  you  understand  why  Jesse 
Applegate,  noted  for  fairness  and  accuracy,  in  his  mar 
ginal  notes  on  Gray's  History  of  Oregon,  characterizes 
Gray's  claim  as  the  man  who  carried  through  the  pro 
visional  government  as  "new  to  me"  ?  Do  you  understand 
why  Bancroft  denounces  Gray  as  unreliable,  and  sums  up 
the  work  of  the  famous  convention  which  adopted  the  pro 
visional  government  by  saying,  "The  missionary  party 
had  won  the  day"?  and  by  the  "missionary  party"  Ban 
croft  meant  the  Methodists,  who  were  the  only  missionary 
party  in  the  Willamette  Valley. 

w  See  Appendix  II. 

184 


CHAPTER  XII 

FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

"They  waste  us — aye — like  April  snow, 

In  the  warm  noon  we  shrink  away; 
And  fast  they  follow,  as  we  go 
Toward  the  setting  day."1 

AFTER  Lee's  return  to  Oregon  in  1840  he  met  the  crisis 
of  his  life.  Hines  says  that  Lee  was  amazed  at  the  death 
and  departure  of  Indians  from  the  Willamette  Valley  dur 
ing  the  two  years  of  his  absence.  Parrish  says  that  five 
hundred  Indians  died  in  the  Willamette  Valley  in  1840, 
and  by  Willamette  Valley  he  means  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Mission.  The  death  of  Indians  in  the  Willamette 
Valley  is  due  to  causes  similar  to  those  which  Dr.  W.  F. 
Wagner  mentions  in  his  introduction  to  The  Narrative 
of  Zenas  Leonard:  "The  introduction  by  the  whites  of 
vices  and  diseases  among  the  Indians,  and  particularly 
the  latter,  undermined  and  sapped  the  vitality  of  the 
natives,  making  them  a  mere  shadow  of  their  former 
selves  and  a  hopelessly  degenerate  race.  .  .  .  We  have 
already  alluded  to  the  destruction  of  wars  among  the  In 
dian  tribes,  .  .  .  yet  these  wars  were  a  mere  bagatelle 
when  compared  with  the  loss  of  life  as  a  result  of  the 
vices  and  diseases  introduced  by  the  white  people."2  Again, 


1  Bryant,  An  Indian  at  the  Burial  Place  of  His  Fathers. 

2  Leonard,  Narrative,  pp.  37,  38. 

185 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Dr.  Wagner  relates  that  smallpox  was  carried  up  the 
Missouri  by  the  steamboat  Saint  Peter  in  1837.  The 
smallpox  spread  like  wildfire.  The  epidemic  of  1837  sur 
passed  anything  ever  known  or  heard  of  in  the  annals  of 
Missouri.3  The  Mandans  caught  the  disease  June  15, 
1837,  and  were  soon  reduced  from  fifteen  hundred  or  two 
thousand  persons  to  thirty.4  The  pestilence  reached  the 
Blackfeet  through  the  Crows,5  and  spread  in  all  directions. 
Dr.  Wagner  adds:  "The  mortality  of  this  epidemic  has 
scarcely  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  plagues,  and  fully 
justifies  the  quotation  from  the  work  of  Maximilian,  'The 
destroying  angel  has  visited  the  unfortunate  sons  of  the 
wilderness  with  terrors  never  before  known,  and  has  con 
verted  the  extensive  hunting  grounds  as  well  as  peaceful 
settlements  of  these  tribes  into  desolate  and  boundless 
cemeteries.'"6  "Others  [plagues]  in  1801-02  and  in 
1837-38,  are  estimated  to  have  reduced  the  plains  Indians 
by  one  half."7  The  missionaries  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
could  not  understand  the  blight  of  their  hopes  and  the 
destruction  of  their  work  apparently  by  the  hand  of  God; 
the  Indians  concluded  that  the  white  man's  God  was  not 
the  Indian's  God,  and  that  they  were  being  punished  for 
having  abandoned  their  own  Great  Spirit.  Hines,  speak 
ing  of  the  condition  of  the  Indians  which  confronted  Jason 
Lee  on  his  return  in  1840,  says:  "The  Indian  race  was 
melting  away.  Where  two  years  before  were  populous 
villages,  there  were  now  but  scattered  wigwams.  The 

'Leonard,  Narrative,  p.  40. 
'Ibid.,  p.   43. 
•Ibid.,  p.  47. 

•Quoted  by  Leonard,  Ibid.,  p.  48. 

T  Moffett,  The  American  Indian  on  the  New  Trail,  p.  7. 

186 


FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

change  was  appalling  to  the  superintendent  and  cast  a 
gloom  over  every  mind."8  The  fact  that  the  Indians  did 
not  erect  permanent  houses  or  cultivate  the  land  enabled 
tribes  and  nations  to  migrate,  and  made  such  changes  a 
characteristic  of  Indian  life.  Parkman  in  one  of  the 
fairest  and  most  discriminating  chapters  upon  the  Indians 
with  which  we  are  familiar  says:  "The  Indian,  hopelessly 
unchanging  in  respect  to  individual  and  social  develop 
ment,  was  as  regarded  .  .  .  local  haunts  mutable  as  the 
wind."9  The  difficulty  appeared  among  the  Indians  with 
whom  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  traded  as  well  as  among 
those  of  the  Mission.  Beckles  Willson  says  that  by  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  the  Cree  Indians  in  all  their 
possessions  were  estimated  at  1,000,000  in  1709,  at  100,000 
in  1749,  and  about  half  a  century  later  at  14,000.10 

The  gradual  and  increasing  flow  of  whites  into  the 
Willamette  Valley  which  accompanied  the  death  of  the 
Indians  awakened  the  suspicion  of  the  Indian  chiefs;  they 
believed  that  there  was  a  connection  between  the  advance 
ment  of  the  one  race  and  the  disappearance  of  the  other; 
and  they  were  reaching  the  conviction  which  made  a  clash 
between  the  two  races  inevitable.  Thomas  Hill,  a  Delaware 
Indian,  who  made  his  way  across  the  plains  in  1845,  was 
living  among  the  Cayuse  Indians  near  Dr.  Whitman's 
station,  and  at  times  at  Dr.  Whitman's  home.  During  his 
wanderings  across  the  plains  and  his  residence  in  the  re 
gions  of  the  upper  Columbia  in  1844,  he  had  told  the 
Indians  the  fate  of  his  people  in  the  East.  He  said 

•Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  pp. 
228,  229. 

•Parkman,  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,  p.  30. 
"Willson,  The  Great  Company,  vol.  i,  p.  222. 

187 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

that  first,  white  religious  teachers  came;  then,  white  set 
tlers;  then,  war  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites;  and 
then,  the  disappearance  of  the  Indians.  He  prophesied  a 
similar  fate  for  the  Indians  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  if  they 
waited  as  did  the  Indians  of  the  East  until  the  white  set 
tlers  became  strong;  and  he  urged  upon  the  Indians  im 
mediate  war  for  their  altars  and  the  graves  of  their  sires. 
Joseph  Lewis,  a  half-breed  Chinook,  had  been  sent  to 
Maine  for  an  education,  and  on  his  return  West  he  became 
an  inmate  of  Dr.  Whitman's  home.  Despite  the  kindness 
of  the  Whitmans,  Lewis  remained  an  enemy  of  civilization. 
He  confirmed  all  that  Hill  had  reported,  and  maintained 
that  the  plague  around  Waiilatpu  was  due  to  Dr.  Whit 
man's  poison;  Lewis  was  largely  responsible  for  the  Whit 
man  massacre  of  1847.  The  Canadian  Iroquois  employed 
by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  confirmed  the  reports  of 
Hill  and  Lewis  in  regard  to  the  disappearance  of  the  In 
dians  from  the  eastern  portion  of  the  continent.  The 
fears  of  the  Indians  were  more  than  justified.  Through 
malaria,  measles,  smallpox,  syphilis,  tuberculosis  already 
they  were  a  swiftly  dying  race;  and  they  were  a  doomed 
people  unless  measures  of  relief  could  be  largely  and 
speedily  adopted.  The  tragedy  was  heightened  by  the 
fact  that  the  very  speed  with  which  the  Indians  accepted 
one  part  of  the  missionary  program  and  the  parents  began 
to  live  in  houses  and  the  children  to  study  books,  only 
hastened  the  spread  of  tuberculosis.  Apparently,  the  only 
solution  of  the  problem  was  on  the  part  of  the  Protestant 
missionaries  large  patience,  provision  for  more  outdoor 
life,  and  less  hastening  and  crowding  of  the  Indians  into 
schoolhouses  and  dwelling  houses;  and  upon  the  side  of 
the  Indians  a  full  acceptance  of  the  missionary  program, 

188 


FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

namely,  Christianity  with  its  self-restraints,  farming, 
housekeeping,  and  education,  and  a  firm  adherence  to  that 
program  despite  all  temporary  losses. 

While  Jason  Lee  little  dreamed  that  the  Indians  would 
disappear  so  rapidly,  no  one  saw  the  inevitable  conflict 
more  clearly  than  did  he.  He  did  not  wait  for  the  clash 
to  come,  but  attempted  to  prevent  it  by  early  and  vigorous 
action : 

1.  The  chieftain  Peu-Peu-Mox-Mox,  or  Yellow  Serpent, 
was  greatly  enraged  against  the  whites  because  of  their 
brutal  murder  of  his  son.  He  had  sent  this  son  to  the 
Methodists  on  the  Willamette,  and  the  boy  had  learned 
to  speak  English,  and  read  and  write,  had  been  converted 
and  was  living  a  Christian  life.  After  he  returned  home 
he  went  with  his  father  to  visit  Captain  Sutter,  of  Cali 
fornia,  on  Sutter's  invitation.  During  the  visit  some 
cattle  were  gathered  in  by  Yellow  Serpent  and  some  of  his 
men,  and  in  the  herd,  part  of  which  belonged  to  the  In 
dians,  were  a  few  cattle  claimed  by  some  white  hunters. 
The  son  was  suddenly  confronted  by  these  white  men  in 
the  absence  of  his  father  and  Captain  Sutter;  and  the 
whites  demanded  the  immediate  return  of  the  stolen  cattle. 
The  son  replied,  "I  have  spoken  in  favor  of  their  return, 
but  my  father  is  chief  and  he  is  absent."  The  son  saw 
that  the  white  men  intended  to  shoot  him  and  asked  time 
to  pray,  and  fell  upon  his  knees.  While  praying  he  was 
shot  by  a  white  man.  His  father,  with  a  heart  crying  for 
vengeance,  returned  to  the  region  of  Walla  Walla.  Here 
he  learned  that  Dr.  Whitman  had  started  East  in  October, 
1842,  and  that  probably  he  would  lead  back  more  white 
men.  The  prospect  of  the  incoming  of  more  white  enemies 
awakened  fear  and  bitterness  in  the  chieftain's  heart;  and 

189 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

some  of  the  Indians  now  began  to  believe  that  the  mis 
sionaries  who  had  come  to  them  in  the  name  of  the  Great 
Spirit  and  professing  a  desire  to  help  them  were  the  secret 
agents  of  white  men  who  were  coming  to  steal  away  their 
lands.  In  view  of  these  dangers,  Jason  Lee  took  his  life 
in  his  hand  in  a  double  sense  and  went  boldly  into  the 
Walla  Walla  country  in  the  winter  of  1842-43,  sending 
word  to  Yellow  Serpent  that  he  wished  to  meet  him.  On 
this  winter  trip  up  the  Columbia  Eiver  Lee  came  near 
losing  his  life.  The  rise  of  the  river,  the  floating  ice,  and 
the  blinding  storms  made  the  voyage  exceedingly  slow  and 
perilous.  They  had  no  shelter  at  night,  and  Lee  and  his 
faithful  Indian  boatman  very  nearly  died  from  hunger, 
wet,  and  cold.  Lee  and  Peu-Peu-Mox-Mox  met  on  Febru 
ary  7,  1843.  Lee  expressed  his  great  sorrow  over  the 
murder  of  the  son,  and  condemned  in  strong  terms  the 
brutality  of  the  whites  in  that  affair.  In  response  to  Yel 
low  Serpent's  question  as  to  whether  the  whites  wished 
peace  or  war,  Lee,  as  recorded  in  his  Journal,  replied, 
"That  will  depend  largely  upon  yourselves/'  In  response 
to  the  chieftain's  question  as  to  what  effect  the  coming  of 
so  many  white  people  into  the  country  would  have  upon 
the  Indians,  Lee  again  answered  as  before,  and  added :  "If 
you  imitate  our  industry  and  adopt  our  habits,  your 
poverty  will  disappear,  and  your  people  will  have  wealth 
as  well  as  we.  Our  hands  are  our  wealth,  and  your  people 
have  hands  as  well  as  we,  and  you  only  need  to  use  them 
properly  in  order  to  gain  property."  Lee  illustrated  by 
pointing  out  the  fact  that  the  Americans,  who  had  passed 
through  their  country  entirely  destitute  a  few  years  be 
fore,  now  through  their  industry  had  in  the  Willamette 
Valley  houses  and  horses  and  cattle  and  other  property. 

190 


FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

Yellow  Serpent  further  asked  if  Dr.  White,  the  Indian 
agent,  who  had  visited  them  at  Walla  Walla,  intended  to 
give  them  presents.  Lee  answered,  "To  be  always  looking 
for  gifts  is  a  sure  sign  of  laziness,  for  the  industrious 
would  rather  labor  and  earn  things  than  to  beg  them." 
Lee  appealed  to  the  chieftain  in  proof  of  the  fact  that  he 
had  taught  the  Indians  two  lessons  from  the  start:  first, 
the  way  to  heaven;  and,  second,  the  way  of  this  life.  He 
insisted  that  from  the  beginning  he  had  tried  to  impress 
upon  the  Indians  the  necessity  of  tilling  the  soil  and  thus 
meeting  white  men  by  the  use  of  the  white  man's  own  arts. 
So  transparent  was  Lee's  honesty,  so  unswerving  his  cour 
age,  that  his  winter  visit  to  Yellow  Serpent  succeeded  in 
warding  off  from  The  Dalles  a  fatal  attack  from  Indians 
who  could  easily  have  overcome  the  whites. 

2.  Jason  Lee  had  largely  changed  his  own  missionary 
policy,  and  for  a  time  he  had  almost  revolutionized  the 
policy  of  the  Missionary  Society  because  he  had  seen 
clearly  that  mission  work  among  the  Indians  must  con 
sist  largely  of  applied  Christianity.  Lee  had  gained  soon 
after  entering  Oregon  the  statesman's  outlook,  and  he  had 
been  used  in  a  strange  and  providential  manner  to  inaugu 
rate  enterprises  which  would  create  an  American  com 
monwealth  of  whose  glory  he  hardly  dreamed.  But  he  had 
never  been  disloyal  to  the  purpose  which  brought  him  to 
Oregon,  namely,  the  salvation  and  transformation  of  the 
Indians.  He  remained  to  the  last  a  missionary  at  heart. 
It  is  true  that  he  had  encouraged  settlers  to  come  to  Oregon 
as  American  citizens  and  that  he  had  written  as  early  as 
1837  to  the  Missionary  Society  urging  them  to  encourage 
such  migration.  It  is  true  that  he  also  asked  during  his 
entire  superintendency  for  more  laymen — physicians, 

191 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

teachers,  and  artisans — and  for  fewer  preachers  than  har 
monized  with  the  views  of  the  church  at  large.  But  Lee's 
request  for  laymen  was  not  that  he  might  bring  settlers 
to  Oregon  in  the  guise  of  missionaries  and  with  the  mis 
sion  funds,  and  then  use  them  to  save  Oregon  to  the  United 
States;  his  political  aims  were  entirely  subordinate  to  his 
religious  motives.  His  demand  for  laymen  was  based 
upon  his  clear  perception  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  intro 
ducing  applied  Christianity,  not  merely  preaching  the 
doctrines  and  administering  the  rites  of  the  church.  The 
conviction  was  more  and  more  borne  in  upon  Lee  by  his 
residence  in  Oregon  that  the  very  life  of  the  Indian  race 
upon  the  Pacific  Coast  depended  upon  the  Indians  master 
ing  practical  Christianity  with  its  homely  virtues  of  hon 
esty,  industry  and  chastity,  and  upon  their  mastering 
at  least  the  rudiments  of  education,  including  English, 
arithmetic  and  hygiene,  and  upon  their  mastering  house 
keeping  and  farming,  thus  transforming  their  rude  pagan 
ism  into  modern  Christian  civilization.  Moreover,  he  felt 
that  the  crisis  demanded  the  greatest  speed  upon  the  part 
of  the  Missionary  Society  and  the  Indians  before  the  race 
melted  away. 

It  was  after  Lee's  return  from  the  East  in  1840  that 
he  made  his  most  heroic  efforts  to  save  the  Indians.  Farn- 
ham's  criticism  that  Lee  brought  from  the  East  more  mis 
sionaries  than  he  could  use,  and  that  he  brought  them  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  Oregon  to  the  United  States,  was 
based  upon  an  utter  misconception  of  Lee's  plans  and  was 
thus  wide  of  the  mark.  Dr.  H.  K.  Hines,  in  his  history  of 
the  missionaries'  work,  shows  that  Lee  actually  assumed  the 
spiritual  oversight  of  sixty  thousand  square  miles  of  terri 
tory,  as  compared  with  sixty-six  thousand  in  all  New 

192 


FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

England;  and  that  with  only  forty  adult  missionaries, 
of  whom  only  twenty-three  were  men,  he  undertook  to 
Christianize  and  civilize  the  Indians  over  this  vast  region 
and  to  build  up  on  the  Pacific  Coast  a  New  England  for 
the  Indians  and  the  whites  alike.  By  our  reckoning  Lee 
had  in  the  Oregon  Country,  after  his  arrival  in  1840,  only 
twenty-three  men,  of  whom  eighteen  were  married,  and 
five  single  women,  and  of  this  number  only  ten  men  and 
five  single  women  were  on  salaries  after  the  first  year,  with 
whom  to  supply  preachers,  teachers,  physicians,  farmers, 
and  home-makers  for  this  entire  region.  Hence,  Lee  sta 
tioned  these  missionaries  throughout  this  immense  stretch 
of  territory.  It  is  indeed  true  that  he  placed  them  at 
the  very  spots  which  later  became  American  settlements. 
But  Lee  sent  his  missionaries  to  these  favored  locations 
because  Indians  most  abounded  there,  and  the  same  advan 
tages  which  drew  the  Indians  to  these  centers  later  made 
them  the  cities  of  white  men. 

3.  Again,  Lee,  in  the  hope  of  saving  as  many  Indians 
as  possible,  rendered  our  government  a  large  service  by 
stationing  Methodist  missionaries  in  territory  north  of 
the  Columbia  River,  which  territory  down  to  that  time  had 
been  held  unchallenged  by  the  British.  Lee  visited  Nis- 
qually  at  the  head  of  Puget  Sound  as  early  as  1838,  met 
many  Indians  there  and  after  conferring  with  them  de 
cided  upon  it  as  a  suitable  site  for  a  missionary  station. 
In  April,  1839,  David  Leslie  and  W.  H.  Willson,  a  car 
penter,  went  to  Nisqually  and  again  met  and  conferred 
with  many  of  the  Indians  and  erected  a  log  house  eighteen 
feet  by  thirty- two  feet,  for  work  among  them.  June  15, 
1840,  Lee  appointed  Dr.  J.  P.  Richmond  and  his  wife, 
W.  H.  Willson  and  Miss  Chloe  A.  Clark,  a  teacher,  to  the 

193 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Nisqually  mission.  These  missionaries  antedated  by  five 
years  all  other  American  settlers  north  of  the  Columbia, 
in  territory  to  which  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  claimed 
an  almost  undisputed  right.  Mr.  Willson  and  Miss  Clark 
were  married  by  Dr.  Richmond  on  August  28,  1842 — the 
first  white  couple  married  in  what  is  now  the  State  of 
Washington;  and  Francis  Richmond  was  the  first  Ameri 
can  child  born  north  of  the  Columbia. 

4.  It  was  in  connection  with  the  crisis  which  the  mis 
sionaries  felt  was  confronting  the  Indians — a  crisis  involv 
ing  the  very  life  of  the  race — and  in  answer  to  prayers 
rising  at  times  almost  to  agony,  that  the  great  revivals 
among  the  Indians  broke  out  in  the  winter  of  1839-40, 
1840-41,  and  1841-42.  These  revivals  extended  some  fifty 
miles  up  and  down  the  Columbia  and  a  long  distance  north 
and  south;  and  they  affected  more  or  less  seriously  many 
of  the  Indians  within  this  territory.  The  Indians  at  the 
stations  had  received  during  the  preceding  years  a  sufficient 
amount  of  Christian  training  and  they  had  learned  enough 
in  regard  to  Christian  experience  to  prepare  them  for  a 
work  of  grace  of  the  Methodist  type.  Hence  the  mission 
aries  witnessed  among  them  what  they  believed  to  be  a 
genuine  conviction  of  sin  and  the  regeneration  of  their 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit  such  as  would  lead  to  the  trans 
formation  of  their  lives.  This  gracious  work  reached  its 
culmination  at  the  camp-meeting  held  at  The  Dalles  in 
1842,  at  which  twelve  hundred  Indians  were  present  and 
Lee  baptized  one  hundred  and  fifty  converts,  and  admin 
istered  communion  to  between  four  and  five  hundred  In 
dians  at  a  single  service.  The  missionaries,  with  their 
experiences  limited  to  a  more  fully  developed  race,  did  not 
yet  fully  realize  that  the  Indians,  with  wills  and  spirits 

194 


FEOM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

changeable  as  children  and  with  passions  strong  and  with 
little  training  in  self-control,  would  need  long  spiritual 
discipline  before  the  Christian  lives  of  most  of  them  would 
become  established.  God's  grace  is  sufficient  for  just  such 
cases,  and  those  who  proved  loyal  to  the  grace  given  them 
revealed  a  supernatural  power  molding  their  lives.  But 
the  majority  of  the  Indian  converts  soon  lapsed  into  their 
lifelong  habits  of  idleness  and  self-indulgence. 

5.  Lee  also  founded  an  Indian  branch  mission  settle 
ment  a  short  distance  from  Willamette  Falls  in  the  hope 
that  the  Indians,  freed  from  contamination  with  the  un 
converted  whites  who  visited  the  larger  settlements,  and 
especially  in  the  hope  that  the  Indians  thrown  upon  their 
own  resources  and  intrusted  with  self-government,  would 
develop  a  Christian  type  of  civilization.    In  order  to  enable 
them  to  buy  machinery  and  some  household  utensils  with 
out  debt,  Lee  raised  $400  for  them,  securing  five  dollars 
to  twenty-five  dollars  each,  from  a  considerable  number 
of  American  and  Canadian  settlers,  he  being  the  largest 
contributor.    The  Indian  Farm  Mission  was  a  failure,  for, 
though  assisted  in  their  farming,  the  Indians  proved  so 
indolent  and  apathetic  that  they  failed  to  earn  their  own 
support,  and  soon  drifted  back  to  beg  in  the  American 
community. 

6.  Out  of  the  fears  which  the  failure  of  the  Indian 
Farm  Settlement  inspired  grew  the  most  heroic  effort  ever 
made  by  the  Oregon  missionaries  to  provide  for  the  preser 
vation  and  uplift  of  the  Indian  race.    At  a  meeting  held 
May  10,  1841,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  select  a  new 
site  for  the  Mission  school.11     At  this  meeting  Lee  pro- 

u  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  201. 

195 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

posed  a  Manual  Labor  Boarding  School,  into  which  the 
young  Indians  should  be  taken,  away  from  the  barbarous 
contaminations  of  the  camp  and  trail.  He  proposed  to 
take  the  young  people  rather  than  mere  children,  and  to 
furnish  them  an  education  in  which  intellectual  training 
should  be  largely  supplemented  by  domestic  science  for 
the  girls,  by  farming  for  the  boys,  and  by  general  cultiva 
tion  of  the  arts  of  home-making  and  modern  living.  With 
remarkable  faith  and  self-sacrifice  the  Mission  was  re 
moved  from  Chemawa  to  Chemekete,  ten  miles  farther 
south  on  the  southern  edge  of  the  Chemekete  plain,  on 
land  which  is  now  a  part  of  Salem,  the  capital  of  Oregon.12 
Here  was  erected  a  building  costing  $10,000 — for  long  the 
largest  and  most  imposing  building  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
It  contained  a  manual  training  department,  recitation 
rooms,  a  dormitory  for  the  young  men,  and  a  dormitory 
for  the  young  women.  Here  the  Indians  of  both  sexes 
were  gathered  in  1842-43,  and  the  missionaries  here  made 
their  last  and  most  heroic  struggle  to  save  a  dying  race. 
Dr.  Hines,  with  intimate  knowledge  of  the  movement, 
writes:  "It  was  a  great  and  noble  effort  to  stay  the  tide 
of  destruction  that  was  setting  in  upon  the  red  men  of 
the  Willamette  Valley,  and  showed  the  splendid  stead 
fastness  of  Mr.  Lee  and  his  colaborers  to  the  original  pur 
pose  for  which  the  church  had  commissioned  them  at  the 
first — the  instruction  and  elevation  of  the  Indian  people.13 
In  1844  Dr.  Gary  had  superseded  Jason  Lee.  Unfortu 
nately,  he  closed  the  Manual  Labor  Boarding  School  for 
the  Indians,  according  to  Hines,  against  the  judgment  "of 

12  Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  pp. 
232,  420,  421. 
18  Ibid.,  p.  251. 

196 


FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

the  oldest  and  most  steadfast  and  capable  of  the  mission 
aries."  Dr.  Gary,  not  waiting  for  experience  to  determine 
his  policy,  but  following  the  policy  agreed  upon  by  him 
and  the  Missionary  Society  before  he  left  New  York, 
namely,  to  close  the  Mission  but  to  save  Methodism  the 
property  so  far  as  practicable,  sold  to  the  trustees  of  the 
Oregon  Institute  the  property  for  $4,000. 14  Dr.  Gary 
by  his  sale  of  the  Mission  claim  to  the  private  corporation 
sacrificed  both  the  Mission  claim  and  the  claim  of  the 
corporation  to  a  square  mile  of  -the  property  which  is  now 
in  the  very  heart  of  Salem,  the  capital  of  Oregon.15  Had 
he  followed  the  advice  of  the  older  missionaries,  and,  above 
all,  had  Jason  Lee  been  present  as  superintendent,  the 
Methodists  would  have  maintained  the  Manual  Labor 
School  for  the  Indians,  and  the  Missionary  Society  would 
have  received  from  the  government  land  worth  far  more 
to-day  than  the  entire  cost  of  the  Mission.16  That  Jason 
Lee  and  the  older  missionaries  had  not  contemplated  the 
abandonment  of  the  Indian  young  people  is  shown  by  the 
removal  of  their  entire  Mission  to  an  isolated  station  for 
their  Indian  school  and  by  putting  $10,000  of  personal 
subscriptions  into  the  Indian  school  building.  That 
neither  Lee  nor  the  older  missionaries  contemplated  secur 
ing  the  fine  Indian  school  building  for  the  use  of  their 
own  white  children  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  January  17, 
1842,  Lee  called  a  meeting  to  plan  a  school  in  Chemekete 
for  the  white  children  and  that  a  committee  was  appointed 
and  $4,000  subscribed,  all  save  $350  by  the  missionaries, 
for  the  school  building,  and  that  a  building  was  begun 

"Ibid.,  p.  421. 

15  Ibid.,  pp.  352,  353. 

18  Ibid.,  p.  351. 

197 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

and  $3,000  were  expended  on  it  during  1843.17  It  should 
be  added  that  the  Rev.  Harvey  Clark,  an  independent 
Presbyterian  missionary,  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
to  select  a  site  for  the  building  for  the  white  children,  and 
that  W.  H.  Gray,  who  had  come  from  Waiilatpu  to  the 
Willamette  Valley,  superintended  the  erection  of  the  build 
ing;18  and  it  was  in  this  original  Oregon  Institute  build 
ing,  in  what  is  now  Salem — not  in  the  building  later 
known  as  the  Oregon  Institute,  but  then  known  as  the 
Manual  Labor  School,  also  in  Salem — that  the  famous 
"Wolf  Meeting"  was  held. 

Dr.  Hines  called  the  year  1842  the  New  Era.  It  was 
in  this  year,  he  says,  that  the  Methodists  generally  per 
ceived  the  failure  of  the  great  revivals  to  transform  any 
large  proportion  of  the  Indians,  and  that  the  increasing 
tide  of  American  emigration  made  necessary  the  turning 
of  the  energies  of  the  missionaries  to  the  building  up  of 
white  civilization  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  along  with  con 
tinued  care  for  the  Indians.  Dr.  Hines  writes :  "Up  to 
1840  it  had  been  entirely  an  Indian  Mission.  After  that 
date  it  began  to  take  on  the  character  of  an  American 
colony,  though  it  did  not  lay  aside  its  missionary  character 
or  purposes."19  He  wisely  adds:  "This  change  could  not 
be  avoided,  and  it  ought  not  to  have  been  even  if  it  could. 
...  If  they  [the  missionaries]  came  to  convert  Indians, 
they  came  as  well  to  plant  the  seed  of  Anglo-Saxon  civili 
zation  in  the  soil  of  the  decayed  and  decaying  paganism."20 


37  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  201-203. 

18  Ibid.,  vol.  1,  pp.  202,  203. 

19  Hines,   Missionary   History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,   p. 
239. 

20  Ibid.,  p.  239. 

198 

0 


FEOM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

As  marking  this  transition,  Lee  conducted  the  first 
camp-meeting  for  the  white  people  in  1843.  The  number 
was  small,  but  the  interest  was  great.  Nineteen  uncon 
verted  white  men  were  present  at  the  camp-meeting  Sun 
day  morning.  Before  the  evening  service  ended  sixteen 
of  these  had  become  Christians,  among  them  Joseph  L. 
Meek,  the  Eocky  Mountain  hunter.  This  revival  greatly 
encouraged  the  missionaries  in  their  work  among  the 
whites,  especially  as  the  results,  upon  the  whole,  proved 
more  permanent  than  the  great  revival  among  the  Indians 
— though  it  must  be  admitted  that  several  of  the  men, 
including  Meek,  soon  fell  again  under  the  dominion  of 
their  appetites. 

Jason  Lee  and  several  of  his  brethren  never  abandoned 
all  hope  for  the  Indians.  As  late  as  August  12,  1843,  Lee 
wrote  the  Society  at  New  York:  "With  all  the  discourage 
ments  which  I  encounter,  I  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  to  God  and 
the  Board  to  say  that  our  interest  in  the  Oregon  Mission 
is  not  in  the  least  abated.  Oregon  is  still  of  infinite  im 
portance  as  a  field  for  missionary  operations  among  the 
Indians/' 

One  can  readily  understand  how  a  missionary,  realizing 
the  infinite  worth  of  each  human  soul  and  bound  to  these 
Indian  wards  by  nine  years  of  unremitting  devotion,  could 
write  such  a  letter  as  this  in  the  midst  of  his  discourage 
ments.  And  he  was  entirely  right  in  maintaining,  despite 
the  lapse  of  the  majority  of  the  converts,  that  the  salvation 
of  this  Indian  remnant  was  of  infinite  importance.  The 
history  of  the  Indians  in  Oklahoma  and  other  States  to 
day,  like  the  history  of  the  remnant  among  the  Israelites, 
will  yet  vindicate  Lee's  prophecy.  As  Hines  well  says  of 
Lee  and  the  other  missionaries,  "They  clung  to  the  In- 

199 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

dians  and  the  Indian  missions  with  the  tenacity  with 
which  faithful  men  cling  to  the  work  in  which  they  have 
invested  the  love  of  their  heart  and  the  strength  of  their 
life/'21  The  crisis  was  hastened  by  the  death  on  January 
1,  1840,  of  Cyrus  Shepard,  whom  Bancroft  regards  as  the 
missionary  most  devoted  to  the  Indians,  by  the  return  to 
the  States  in  1842  of  Daniel  Lee  and  of  Dr.  Richmond, 
whom  we  regard  as  two  of  Jason  Lee's  most  efficient  help 
ers  in  the  Indian  work;  and  it  was  still  further  hastened 
by  the  return  to  the  States  in  1844  of  H.  K.  W.  Perkins, 
whom  Bancroft  ranks  next  to  Shepard  in  devotion  to  the 
Indians. 

All  admit  that  Jason  Lee  and  his  compeers  showed  no 
lack  of  practical  foresight,  or,  we  would  prefer  to  say,  no 
lack  of  divine  guidance,  in  shaping  the  Christian  civiliza 
tion  of  the  Northwest  Coast  for  the  white  people  who  were 
increasingly  occupying  the  region.  In  October,  1843, 
Lee,  in  writing  to  the  Society,  assured  its  members  that 
the  mission  had  also  vast  possibilities  for  the  white  race. 
"On  one  point  I  have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt,  namely,  that 
the  growth,  rise,  glory  and  triumph  of  Methodism  in  the 
Willamette  Valley  are  destined  to  be  commensurate  with 
the  growth,  rise,  and  prosperity  of  our  infant,  but  flourish 
ing  and  rapidly  increasing  settlement."  These  last  two 
quotations  from  Lee  mark  the  two  thoughts  which  during 
his  career  were  uppermost  in  his  mind:  the  salvation  and 
civilization  of  the  Indians,  the  salvation  and  civilization 
of  the  whites.  But  the  faith  of  the  missionaries  in  the 
Indians  and  their  heroic  efforts  to  save  them  show  not 


21Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  p. 
360. 

200 


FROM  INDIANS  TO  WHITES 

alone  the  clearness  of  their  judgment,  but  the  largeness 
of  their  hearts  and  the  greatness  of  their  devotion  to  a 
dying  race.  While  they  believed  that  the  whites  would 
certainly  come  to  the  country,  they  did  not  think  the  In 
dians  must  disappear.  And,  indeed,  there  never  was  any 
divine  reason  for  the  doom  of  the  entire  race.  A  spiritual 
kingdom  depends  upon  the  spirit  of  each  member;  hence 
God  always  deals  spiritually  with  individuals,  not  with 
races.  The  promise  from  of  old  has  been,  "But  now  I  will 
not  be  unto  the  remnant  of  this  people  as  in  the  former 
days  [when  it  knew  not  God] ,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts.  For 
there  shall  be  the  seed  of  peace;  the  vine  shall  give  its 
fruit,  and  the  ground  shall  give  its  increase,  and  the 
heavens  shall  give  their  dew ;  and  I  will  cause  the  remnant 
of  this  people  to  inherit  all  these  things."22 

It  is  true  that  a  decaying  race,  as  the  Indian  race  was 
at  that  time,  coming  into  contact  with  a  strong  but  half- 
Christian  race,  as  the  white  race  was  and  is,  speedily 
adopts  the  vices  of  the  stronger  race ;  and  only  slowly,  and 
as  individuals,  masters  its  virtues.  This  makes  all  the 
more  solemn  the  responsibility  of  the  white  races  in  the 
world.  Hence  it  was  true  that  after  the  great  revivals 
of  1839-42,  and  after  the  later  struggles  of  the  mission 
aries  in  founding  the  Manual  Labor  School,  they  still  saw 
a  majority  of  their  converts  sink  into  the  grave  and  a 
portion  of  the  remnant  lapse  back  into  paganism.  But 
a  remnant  was  saved,  and  it  has  survived;  and  it  is  in 
creasing  faster  than  the  Negro  population  of  the  United 
States.  The  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  reported  re 
cently  that  the  Indians  in  the  United  States  numbered 

"Zechariah,  8:   11,  12. 

201 


THE  OREGON"  MISSIONS 

137,000  in  1900  and  209,000  in  1916.  It  constitutes  the 
seed  through  which  Almighty  God  will  perpetuate  the 
Indian  race.  And  the  glory  of  Gustavus  Bines  and  Cyrus 
Shepard,  of  H.  H.  Spalding  and  Harvey  Clark,  as  well  as 
of  Jason  Lee  and  Dr.  Whitman,  and  the  Eoman  Catholic 
priests,  is  the  survival  of  that  remnant  which  shall  yet 
become  the  glory  of  the  American  aborigines. 


202 


CHAPTER  XIII 
LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

JASON  LEE — "the  peer  of  any  man  who  adorns  the  roll 
of  modern  workers  in  the  Church  of  Christ/' — Bishop 
Matthew  Simpson. 

Jason  Lee's  affairs  now  rapidly  drew  to  a  crisis.  While 
the  results  of  his  services  constitute  an  epoch  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  church  and  an  honorable  incident  in  the  his 
tory  of  his  country,  yet  the  years  1840-1843  broke  his 
health  and  ended  in  his  death. 

Lee's  personal  tragedy  was  precipitated  by  a  colossal 
blunder  on  his  part;  and  the  tragedy  is  in  part  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  blunder  was  the  result  of  an  absorption  in  his 
work,  a  lack  of  thought  in  regard  to  himself  or  his  own 
personal  interest,  which  often  characterizes  men  engaged 
in  great  tasks.  We  are  amazed  in  Lee's  case  over  his  mis 
take  as  to  the  time  of  his  second  marriage,  as  we  are 
amazed  in  Wesley's  case  over  his  blunder  in  the  choice  of 
a  wife.  Neither  man  reckoned  wisely  with  those  domestic 
influences  which  often  prove  the  making  or  marring  of 
a  career.  Lee  learned  of  the  death  of  his  first  wife  while 
at  Westport,  Missouri,  on  his  journey  to  the  East.  Our 
readers  will  remember  that  immediately  after  learning 
of  her  death,  perhaps  in  part  to  drown  his  sorrow,  Lee 
plunged  into  the  work  of  awakening  interest  in  the  Indian 
race  and  in  Oregon.  Before  he  left  Westport,  he  gave  the 

203 


THE  OEEGON  MISSIONS 

first  of  the  series  of  lectures  which  were  to  arouse  Missouri, 
Iowa,  and  Illinois  and  to  start  emigrant  trains  to  Oregon. 

But  the  white  women  in  Oregon  were  not  engrossed  in 
public  affairs.  Moreover,  Anna  Pitman  Lee  was  the  first 
white  woman  on  the  Pacific  Coast  to  die;  and  she  died 
honored  and  loved  by  all  her  associates.  The  hearts  of  all 
the  settlers  were  greatly  stirred;  we  can  easily  imagine 
how  deeply  moved  were  the  women  in  that  distant  settle 
ment,  and  how  in  the  intervening  two  years,  they  thought 
often  of  Jason  Lee's  loneliness  and  sorrows.  Mrs.  Lee 
had  been  given  Christian  burial;  but  everybody  in  the 
Mission  and  in  the  Willamette  Valley  expected  a  memorial 
service  on  Lee's  return  to  them. 

Meantime  other  friends  in  the  East,  who  did  not  know 
Lee's  first  wife,  who  did  not  fully  appreciate  the  tragedy 
of  her  death,  but  who  marked  the  loneliness  of  Lee  when 
he  was  not  absorbed  in  his  work,  saw  the  need  of  a  com 
panion  for  him  during  the  coming  years  and  suggested 
to  him  the  wisdom  of  a  second  marriage  before  going  back 
to  those  distant  wilds.  The  name  of  Miss  Lucy  Thomp 
son,  of  Burlington,  Vermont,  was  mentioned  as  that  of  a 
suitable  helpmate.  Following  his  own  impulses  and  the 
advice  of  his  friends  in  the  East,  and  with  no  foresight 
whatever  of  the  shock  that  would  come  to  his  friends  in 
Oregon,  fifteen  months  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife, 
and  just  before  sailing  for  the  Columbia,  without  the 
slightest  hint  to  his  friends  in  Oregon,  Lee  was  married 
to  Miss  Thompson.  After  the  first  terrible  surprise  and 
reaction  on  the  part  of  Lee's  friends  in  Oregon  over  the 
unexpected  second  marriage,  Mrs.  Lucy  Thompson  Lee 
won  universal  respect  and  love  by  her  unselfish  Christian 
character.  If  Lee  was  to  take  a  second  wife  back  to  Oregon 

204 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

he  made  a  wise  selection  in  Miss  Thompson,  or  had  the 
good  sense  to  accept  the  wise  selection  largely  made  for 
him  by  his  friends.  We  may  add  that  on  the  birth  of  her 
first  child,  a  daughter,  she  died— March  22,  1842. 

But  Lee  overlooked  the  embarrassment  in  which  he 
inevitably  placed  himself,  his  friends  in  Oregon,  and  his 
second  wife  by  his  marriage  before  he  returned  to  the 
Willamette  Valley.  Lee  had  not  met  these  friends  since 
the  death  of  his  first  wife;  he  had  had  no  opportunity  to 
hear  from  them  the  story  of  her  devotion  to  him  between 
his  departure  for  the  East,  and  her  illness  and  death,  and 
the  messages  she  had  left  for  him;  and  he  could  not  now 
tell  them  of  the  agony  through  which  he  had  passed  when 
the  messenger  brought  the  news  of  her  death  and  the 
death  of  their  son.  Bancroft  thus  portrays  Lee's  painful 
announcement  of  his  second  marriage  to  his  friends: 
"Jason  Lee  .  .  .  took  a  canoe  and  went  in  advance  to  the 
Mission.  When  there  he  handed  over  the  ship's  list  of 
passengers,  headed  by  the  name  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jason 
Lee,  that  he  might  notify  his  old  companions  that  he  had 
returned  with  another  wife.  He  made  no  remark  on  the 
subject,  and  nothing  was  said  to  him.  Deeply  stirred  had 
been  the  sympathies  of  his  old  associates  as  they  thought 
of  his  return  to  his  desolate  home;  and  now  the  revulsion 
of  feeling  was  so  great  that  the  supremacy  of  Jason  Lee 
in  their  hearts  was  thenceforth  a  thing  of  the  past." 

This  revulsion  of  feeling  speedily  led  to  misunderstand 
ing  of  Lee's  present  motives.  First  of  all,  the  new  mission 
ary  party  was  entirely  too  large  to  be  absorbed  by  the  few 
missionaries  already  on  the  field  and  led  by  their  experi 
ence  to  accept  those  modifications  of  early  ideals  and 
illusions  with  which  young  people  enter  upon  mission 

205 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

work;  and  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  others  noticed  that  they 
did  not  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  older  workers  or  fully 
accept  their  point  of  view.  Like  most  new  missionaries, 
they  failed  to  anticipate  the  discouragements  inherent  in 
the  very  nature  of  missionary  work.  The  ground  of  mis 
sionary  activity  is  the  fact  that  pagan  races  are  on  a  lower 
plane  of  spiritual,,  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  life 
than  are  Christian  people;  but  the  new  missionary  never 
quite  realizes  how  much  is  involved  in  this  statement  until 
he  faces  the  actual  conditions  of  paganism.  Experience 
on  the  field  leads  older  missionaries  to  accept  lower  stand 
ards  of  physical  comfort,  and  a  mixture  of  manners  which 
often  offends  the  taste  of  new  missionaries.  Experience 
in  the  field  sometimes  broadens  the  sympathies  of  older 
missionaries  and  leads  them  to  a  recognition  of  truth  in 
a  pagan  faith  or  of  reason  for  a  pagan  custom  which  the 
younger  missionary  regards  as  inconsistent  with  his  ideal 
— an  ideal  narrower  and  sometimes  loftier,  than  that  of 
his  older  brothers.  In  some  cases  it  is  true  that  long 
contact  with  a  lower  civilization  dims  the  vision  of  the 
ideal,  and  the  older  missionary  has  a  lesson  to  learn  from 
his  younger  brother.  A  period  of  reaction  and  discourage 
ment  is  almost  inevitable  on  entering  a  mission  field. 
When  the  number  of  new  recruits  is  large,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  prevent  this  discouragement  finding  voice 
among  themselves  and  giving  rise  to  complaints  to  the 
friends  at  home  and  often  to  the  missionary  authorities. 
Thus  a  large  influx  of  new  missionaries  always  involves  the 
possibilities  of  a  tragedy.  In  this  case  the  tragedy  was 
rendered  imminent  by  the  fact  that  the  Mission  to  the 
Indians  began  with  the  belief  that  the  Indians  could  be 
transformed  by  sudden  conversion  into  the  equals  of  the 

206 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

white  race;  and  that  it  was  undertaken  with  the  purpose 
of  thus  transforming  the  Indians,  while  work  among  the 
whites  was  regarded  as  purely  incidental.  It  is  true  that 
the  early  missionaries  wrote  back  repeatedly  that  the  white 
work  was  bulking  larger  and  that  the  Indians  were  suffer 
ing  much  from  disease.  The  very  fact  that  out  of  the 
fifty-two  men,  women,  and  children  whom  Lee  brought 
out  for  his  work  in  1840,  only  five  were  ministers  was  a 
demonstration  on  its  face  that  the  new  group  were  to  un 
dertake  the  settlement  of  the  country  and  work  for  the 
whites  as  well  as  for  the  Indians,  and,  above  all,  that  the 
new  Christian  settlers  were  slowly  to  mold  the  Indians 
to  higher  ideals  by  their  example  in  Christian  homes  and 
industries.  But  the  church  at  home,  and  even  the  mis 
sionaries  on  coming  to  Oregon,  still  cherished  the  old 
ideal  of  transforming  the  Indians  suddenly  into  civilized 
people  equal  to  the  whites.  There  seemed  to  be  little 
recognition  upon  the  part  of  anyone  that  even  the  white 
races  have  been  many  centuries  in  reaching  their  present 
stage  of  Christian  civilization.  Hence  when  the  group 
of  1840  reached  Oregon  and  saw  how  rapidly  the  Indians 
were  disappearing  from  the  Willamette  Valley  and  the 
whites  supplanting  them — indeed,  how  largely  the  Indians 
already  had  disappeared — they  almost  felt  that  Lee  had 
misled  them  as  to  the  purpose  of  their  coming.  The 
tragedy  of  Lee's  premature  second  marriage  was  that  the 
marriage  in  advance  of  any  memorial  service — a  marriage 
which  rendered  any  memorial  service  impossible — shocked 
his  old  friends  and  lost  him  their  moral  support  at  the 
very  time  when  he  most  needed  it  to  lead  the  missionaries 
in  the  transition  which  was  inevitable,  if  civilization  in 
Oregon  was  to  become  in  any  sense  Christian.  Jason  Lee's 

207 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

influence  over  the  missionaries  in  Oregon  began  to  suffer 
almost  as  if  Lee  himself  were  to  blame  for  the  doom  be 
falling  his  wards  and  for  the  change  in  the  work  to  which 
the  missionaries  must  more  and  more  adapt  themselves. 
Jason  Lee  and  Dr.  Whitman  each,  after  their  conference 
on  Lee's  journey  to  the  United  States  in  1838,  urged  the 
wisdom  and  necessity  of  bringing  Christian  laymen  and 
their  families  to  Oregon  as  a  home  mission  field  in  the 
expectation  that  they  would  become  self-supporting  on 
reaching  their  destination,  and  that  as  Christians  helped 
by  the  church  to  new  opportunities  for  their  own  families 
they  would  by  precept  and  example  teach  the  Indians  to 
become  Christian  citizens  and  to  establish  Christian  homes. 
The  American  Board  had  sent  out  at  first  one  layman. 
But  Dr.  Whitman  in  his  hurried  trip  to  the  East  in  1842- 
43  did  not  succeed  in  inducing  his  Board  to  give  him  a 
single  additional  layman.  Jason  Lee  had  far  more  influ 
ence  with  his  Society,  and  brought  back  Abernethy  as 
steward  and  Miss  Lankton  as  stewardess;  Babcock  as  a 
physician;  Misses  Clark,  Phelps,  Phillips,  and  Ware  and 
Thomas  Adams,  the  Indian  young  man,  as  teachers; 
Campbell  and  Olley  as  carpenters;  Judson  as  a  cabinet 
maker  ;  Parrish  as  a  blacksmith ;  and  Brewer  and  Raymond 
as  farmers.  But  when  some  of  the  missionaries  sent  to 
the  more  distant  posts  saw  that  of  the  fifty-two  men, 
women,  and  children,  including  himself  and  wife,  who  went 
to  Oregon  in  1840,  thirty-two1  were  left  in  the  Willamette 
Valley,  they  blamed  Lee  for  an  unequal  distribution  of 
the  force.  But  the  laity,  most  of  whom  remained  in  the 
valley,  were  expected  to  support  themselves  and  by  example 

1  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  rol.  iii,  p.  188. 

208 

m 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

and  by  Christian  helpfulness  show  the  Indians  what  Chris 
tianity  means.  Including  himself,  who  was  superintend 
ent  of  the  entire  Mission;  Leslie  and  Walker,  the  two 
ministers;  Abernethy,  the  treasurer  and  storekeeper  for 
the  entire  Mission;  Miss  Lankton,  the  stewardess  for  the 
school;  and  one  woman  teacher,  there  were  only  six  per 
sons  supported  by  the  Missionary  Society  for  work  in  the 
Willamette  Valley,  a  section  of  his  field  which  was  about 
the  size  of  Massachusetts.2  Surely,  this  was  not  an  ex 
travagant  appropriation  for  so  large  a  field.  But  the  death 
and  the  flight  of  the  Indians  led  some  of  the  laymen  forth 
with  to  give  themselves  wholly  to  secular  pursuits,  blaming 
Lee  for  the  lowering  of  the  ideal  with  which  they  had 
come  to  Oregon.  Besides,  it  was  impossible  that  the  Mis 
sionary  Society  and  Lee  as  the  prime  mover  should  make 
this  radical  change  from  the  accepted  missionary  program 
of  the  period  without  serious  criticism  upon  the  part  of 
the  more  conservative  Christians  and  some  reflections 
upon  motives  upon  the  part  of  the  world.  Hence  the 
criticism  of  Lee  and  the  Missionary  Society  by  so  good 
and  so  great  a  man  as  President  Olin,  of  Wesleyan  Uni 
versity,  and  the  appointment,  by  Bishop  Hedding,  of  Dr. 
Gary  to  supersede  Jason  Lee,  are  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
though  greatly  to  be  deplored.  Long  experience  of  failures 
in  Indian  missions  conducted  on  the  old  lines,  General 
Armstrong's  later  success  along  the  very  lines  laid  down 
by  Lee,  and  Booker  T.  Washington's  success  at  Tuskegee 
among  the  Negroes,  more  than  confirm  the  wisdom  of  Lee's 
and  Whitman's  plans. 

Near  the  close  of  1843,  Lee,  without  the  knowledge  that 


2  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  vol.  xx,  p.  242c. 

209 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

he  had  been  superseded,  had  heard  enough  complaints 
during  the  three  years  since  his  return  to  recognize  the 
necessity  of  once  more  going  East  to  explain  the  latest 
changes  in  the  conditions  of  Oregon  and  the  corresponding 
changes  in  the  work  of  the  missionaries.  On  reaching 
Hawaii  in  1844  on  his  way  home  he  learned  that  he  had 
been  superseded,  and  left  Hawaii  February  28,  and  arrived 
in  the  United  States  in  time  to  reach  the  General  Confer 
ence  in  May  of  the  same  year.  But  the  General  Conference 
of  1844  was  in  the  throes  of  its  great  struggle  over  slavery 
— the  struggle  which  resulted  in  the  division  of  the  Church 
— and  had  no  time  to  think  of  a  Mission  in  a  distant  part 
of  the  country.  Lee  was  advised  to  go  to  Washington  and 
report  progress  to  the  government,  and  meet  the  Mission 
ary  Society  after  the  General  Conference.  That  his  efforts, 
as  a  whole,  in  Washington  had  not  been  in  vain  is  shown 
by  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  interior,  Columbus  De 
lano,  later  in  a  decision  awarding  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  the  property  at  The  Dalles,  on  which  Jason  Lee 
had  established  one  of  his  missions:  "From  1834,  when 
the  American  missionaries  first  penetrated  this  remote 
region,  a  contest  was  going  on  as  to  which  nation  should 
possess  it;  and  that  probably  depended  on  the  fact  as  to 
which  could  first  settle  it  with  emigrants.  The  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  the  Catholic  missionaries,  and  the  British 
government  were  on  one  side;  on  the  other  side  were  the 
missionaries  of  the  American  Board  and  the  Methodist 
Society  who  had  established  their  stations  among  the 
Indians  and  who  attracted  the  tide  of  American  emigration 
that  turned  the  scale  in  favor  of  our  government,  resulting 
in  the  establishment  of  the  territorial  government  of  Ore 
gon,  wholly  American  in  interest,  which  exercised  all  the 

210 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

functions  of  government  until  the  erection  of  the  new 
Territory  of  Oregon  by  Congress."  The  United  States 
through  this  official  representative  thus  recognized  the 
services  of  the  American  churches. 

Jason  Lee  appeared  before  the  Missionary  Society  July 
1,  1844,  and  explained  that  he  had  carried  out  the  exact 
policy  he  had  outlined  to  them  when  he  had  written  from 
Oregon  in  1834  asking,  not  for  ministers,  but  for  a  physi 
cian,  a  blacksmith,  a  farmer,  a  carpenter,  and  teachers, 
and  that  the  Missionary  Society  had  indorsed  his  policy 
by  sending  him  the  very  persons  he  asked  for — a  physician, 
a  blacksmith,  a  carpenter,  two  women  teachers,  and  one 
minister.  Again,  he  pointed  out  that  on  his  visit  to  the 
East  in  1838-39  the  Society,  after  hearing  his  report,  ques 
tioning  him  as  to  his  plans,  and  discussing  the  subject 
fully,  accepted  his  policy,  and  sent  him  back  to  the  Mission 
with  the  machinery,  merchandise,  etc.,  for  which  he  had 
asked  and  with  thirty-three  adult  missionaries,  of  whom 
only  five  were  ministers.  He  showed  that  the  changes  which 
had  now  taken  place  in  Oregon,  the  strange  and  sudden 
disappearance  of  the  Indians,  and  the  increase  of  white 
emigration  made  the  plans  which  they  originally  adopted 
in  1834  and  readopted  in  1838-39  almost  perfectly  adapted 
to  the  new  conditions  which  now  confronted  them.  The 
Eev.  A.  F.  Waller's  article,  published  in  the  Christian 
Advocate  and  Journal  of  May  19,  1841,  and  his  own  long 
letter  published  August  25,  1842,  had  told  them  of  the 
rapid  disappearance  of  the  Indians  through  smallpox  and 
other  diseases.  He  maintained  that  had  he  or  the  Society 
foreseen  the  changes  which  were  coming,  they  could  not 
better  have  adapted  their  plans  to  the  conditions  which 
now  faced  them  in  Oregon.  The  facts  which  Jason  Lee 

211 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

presented  to  the  Society  amply  vindicated  his  foresight; 
and  the  conviction  grew  upon  the  members  that,  as  Lee 
maintained,  the  credit  for  the  adaptation  of  the  Mission 
to  the  changing  conditions  was  not  due  to  any  human 
foresight  but  to  the  Divine  Providence.  At  the  close  of 
Lee's  address  his  personal  vindication  was  complete.  Prob 
ably  had  not  the  Eev.  George  Gary  already  been  sent  to 
the  field,  the  Society  would  have  continued  Lee  in  charge 
of  the  Mission.  Lee,  with  real  modesty  and  unselfishness, 
bowed  to  the  decision  of  the  Society  and  announced  his 
willingness  to  return  and  serve  under  Dr.  Gary.  The 
Society  gladly  accepted  his  offer,  but  urged  him  to  remain 
East  for  a  few  months  for  the  recuperation  of  his  health 
and  the  collection  of  funds  for  the  Oregon  Institute.  He 
visited  Wilbraham,  Massachusetts,  where  he  held  a  public 
meeting  in  the  interest  of  Oregon;  and  then  his  nephew, 
Daniel  Lee,  at  North  Haverhill,  New  Hampshire,  where  he 
again  spoke  on  his  favorite  theme ;  he  then  returned  to  his 
old  home  at  Stanstead  for  a  few  weeks  of  rest  before  start 
ing  for  Oregon.  But  his  eleven  years  of  toil  and  exposure, 
the  loneliness  of  his  homeless  life,  the  burdens  of  the  Mis 
sion  and  of  the  country,  broke  his  Herculean  frame;  he 
felt  keenly  the  complaints  of  the  missionaries  in  Oregon; 
above  all,  the  implied  reproach  of  his  brethren  of  the  Mis 
sionary  Society  and  of  the  church  nearly  broke  his  heart; 
and  he  found  himself  rapidly  falling  a  victim  to  tubercu 
losis  probably  contracted  from  his  Indian  wards.  We 
must  remember  that  Lee's  second  wife  had  died,  and  that 
he  was  burdened  by  domestic  sorrow  as  well  as  by  the 
complaints  of  his  brethren.  His  brethren  assured  him 
that  they  had  not  meant  to  hurt  his  feelings ;  but  the  lonely 
man  could  not  grip  life  again,  and  he  sank  into  the  grave 

212 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

March  12,  1845 — one  of  the  most  statesmanlike  and  heroic 
figures  in  missionary  annals. 

Unfortunately,  Jason  Lee  not  only  suffered  at  the  close 
of  his  life,  but  his  memory  has  suffered  since  his  death 
by  the  unworthy  detraction  of  careless  writers.  Mrs.  Dye 
has  made  an  unfair  portrayal  of  Lee's  relation  with  Dr. 
McLoughlin;  and  even  a  man  with  the  general  knowledge 
of  the  whole  field,  and  the  passion  for  facts  which  charac 
terizes  Bancroft,  has  permitted  one  of  the  writers  of  his 
history  to  give  the  following  mixed  estimate  of  Lee's  charac 
ter,  which  inevitably  leads  the  reader  to  condemnation 
for  which  the  writer  escapes  the  blame:  "I  would  not 
present  Jason  Lee  as  a  bad  man,  or  as  a  good  man  becom 
ing  bad,  or  as  worse  now,  while  tricking  his  eastern  direc 
tors  and  cheating  McLoughlin  out  of  his  land,  than  while 
preaching  at  Fort  Hall  or  seeking  the  salvation  of  the 
dying  Indian  children.  He  was  the  self-same  person 
throughout,  and  grew  wiser  and  better  if  anything  as  years 
added  experience  to  his  life.  He  was  endeavoring  to  make 
the  most  of  himself,  to  do  the  best  for  his  country,  whether 
laboring  in  the  field  of  piety  or  patriotism;  and  if  on 
abandoning  the  missionary  work  and  engaging  in  that  of 
empire-building,  he  fell  into  ways  called  devious  by  busi 
ness  men,  it  must  be  attributed  to  that  specious  line  of 
education  which  leads  to  the  appropriation  of  the  Lord's 
earth  by  ministers  of  the  Lord,  in  so  far  as  the  power  is 
given  them.  In  all  these  things  he  sought  to  do  the  best, 
and  he  certainly  was  doing  better  work,  work  more  bene 
ficial  to  mankind,  and  more  praiseworthy,  as  colonizer, 
than  he  had  formerly  achieved  as  missionary."3  "How 

8  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  214. 

213 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

he  justified  the  change  in  himself  no  one  can  tell.  He 
certainly  saw  how  grand  a  work  it  was  to  lay  the  founda 
tion  of  a  new  empire  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  and  how 
discouraging  the  prospect  of  raising  a  doomed  race  to  a 
momentary  recognition  of  its  lost  condition,  which  was 
all  that  ever  could  be  hoped  for  the  Indians  of  western 
Oregon.  There  is  much  credit  to  be  imputed  to  him  as 
the  man  who  carried  to  successful  completion  the  dream 
of  Hall  J.  Kelley  and  the  purpose  of  Ewing  Young.  .  .  . 
Taken  all  in  all,  and  I  should  say,  Honor  to  the  memory 
of  Jason  Lee."4  "That  he  had  the  ability  to  impress  upon 
the  Willamette  Valley  a  character  for  religious  and  literary 
aspiration,  which  remains  to  this  day;  that  he  suggested 
the  manner  in  which  Congress  could  promote  and  reward 
American  emigration,  .  .  .  "5  the  facts  make  clear. 

The  references  found  in  Bancroft's  volumes  derogatory 
to  Jason  Lee  may  be  summed  up  in  the  statements:  (1) 
that  Jason  Lee  was  angry  with  the  Rev.  David  Leslie  and 
left  him  for  at  least  a  year  without  an  appointment  and 
with  no  support  for  himself  and  five  motherless  children 
because  Leslie  had  the  temerity  to  differ  from  him  in  his 
discharge  of  Dr.  White  from  the  Mission;6  (2)  that  Lee 
played  the  hypocrite  while  cheating  Dr.  McLoughlin  out 
of  land  at  Willamette  Falls;7  and  (3)  that  Lee  was  worldly 
and  ambitious,  and  deceived  the  Missionary  Society  and 
misappropriated  a  large  amount  of  their  funds.8  In  con 
sidering  these  charges  it  is  only  fair  to  bear  in  mind  Ban- 

4  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  221. 
8  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  220. 
•Ibid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  196,  197. 
'Ibid.,  vol.  i,  pp.  203-225. 
8  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  220. 

214 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

croft's  condemnation  of  all  missionary  work  mentioned  in 
the  Preface  and  the  criticism  of  ministerial  training  and 
of  ministers  in  general  in  the  quotation  made  above. 

In  regard  to  the  first  charge:  the  picture  drawn  in 
Bancroft's  volume  of  Dr.  White  furnishes  justification  for 
Lee's  conclusion  that  White  ought  to  sever  his  connection 
with  the  Mission.  But  there  is  not  a  line  of  evidence 
adduced  in  proof  of  the  statement  that  Lee  left  Leslie 
without  an  appointment  because  Leslie  favored  White. 
The  facts  are  these :  As  the  statement  in  Bancroft's  volume 
itself  makes  clear,  Leslie's  wife  died  in  February,  1841, 
leaving  him  with  five  motherless  daughters  to  support  and 
educate;9  but  the  writer  does  not  state  that  the  mother 
of  these  children  was  the  aunt  of  the  Rev.  Bradford  K. 
Pierce,  D.D.,  long  the  able  and  beloved  editor  of  Zion's 
Herald  of  Boston,  and  that  these  children  were,  therefore, 
Dr.  Pierce's  cousins.  These  motherless  children  were  thus 
connected  with  one  of  the  finest  New  England  families 
and  were  sure  of  care  and  education,  if  Leslie  could  only 
take  them  or  send  them  to  New  England.  Leslie  was, 
therefore,  at  his  own  request,  left  without  an  appointment 
in  1842  in  order  to  take  his  children  to  Hawaii  and,  if 
possible,  send  them  from  there  on  to  New  England.  We 
find  no  record  that  he  was  left  without  a  salary ;  the  pres 
ent  custom  of  the  Missionary  Society  in  such  cases  is  to 
provide  half  salary  and  traveling  expenses ;  though  it  may 
not  have  acted  so  favorably  in  the  early  days.  Cornelius 
Rogers,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  American  Board 
Mission,  and  had  been  honorably  released  from  the  Mis 
sion,  had  come  to  Oregon,  had  met  the  Leslie  family,  and 

"Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  190. 

215 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

had  fallen  in  love  with  Leslie's  oldest  daughter.  He  pro 
posed  marriage  to  her  after  the  family  had  gone  aboard 
the  brig  Chenemas  to  sail  for  Hawaii.  Mr.  Rogers's  pro 
posal  was  accepted  and  the  marriage  service  was  performed. 
Then  with  a  mother's-  interest  this  eldest  daughter,  with 
the  full  consent  of  her  husband,  begged  her  father  to  leave 
the  two  youngest  sisters  with  her,  and  Mr.  Leslie  consented. 
This  left  him  with  only  two  daughters  to  provide  for 
instead  of  five.  Nevertheless,  he  went  on  with  these  two 
daughters  to  Hawaii  and  placed  them  in  school  there  until 
he  could  send  them  back  to  New  England.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Rogers,  with  the  youngest  of  Mr.  Leslie's  daughters,  were 
drowned  at  Willamette  Falls  five  months  after  their  mar 
riage,  that  is,  early  in  1843.  Another  one  of  Dr.  Leslie's 
daughters  died  in  Hawaii.  Leslie  returned  to  Oregon  in 
1843.  Later  he  himself  married  and  provided  a  home  for 
the  two  remaining  daughters.  This  simple  recital  of  the 
facts  ought  to  set  at  rest  the  charge  that  Jason  Lee  left 
a  brother  missionary,  who  had  five  motherless  children 
to  care  for,  without  any  visible  means  of  support  because 
Leslie  differed  from  Lee  in  his  estimate  of  Dr.  White. 
This  baseless  assumption  of  Lee's  jealousy  is  rendered 
forever  impossible  by  the  fact  that  when  Lee  decided  to 
return  to  the  East  in  1843,  that  is,  within  a  year  of  the 
time  when  it  is  alleged  "Lee  punished  Leslie,"  he  selected 
Leslie  of  all  men  in  the  Mission  to  represent  him  in  his 
absence,  and  appointed  him  acting  superintendent  of  the 
entire  Mission.  What  fuller  refutation  is  needed  of  the 
baseless  charge  of  Lee's  ill  treatment  of  Leslie  ? 

The  second  charge,  that  Lee  cheated  Dr.  McLoughlin 
out  of  land  at  Willamette  Falls,  is  equally  baseless.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  had  and  exercised  despotic  power  over  the 

216 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

employees  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  controlling  not 
only  their  service  but  their  conduct  outside  their  hours 
of  labor.  The  charge  against  Jason  Lee  is  based  on  the 
assumption  that  he  had  and  exercised  an  equally  despotic 
authority  over  the  lay  missionaries,  and  especially  the 
ministers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  charge 
rests  on  the  further  supposition  that  Lee,  Waller,  Parrish, 
and  the  other  Methodists  at  Willamette  Falls  were  in  a 
conspiracy  to  cheat  Dr.  McLoughlin  out  of  his  claims. 
The  evidence  as  cited  by  the  writer  in  Bancroft's  History 
shows  that  Lee  openly  always  favored  McLoughlin's  claim, 
that  he  disagreed  with  most  of  his  Mission  at  that  point. 
But  it  is  assumed  that  this  is  a  part  of  the  conspiracy  and 
that  Lee  played  the  hypocrite  in  order  to  deceive  McLough 
lin  ;  that  he  had  the  power  to  control  the  Methodist  minis 
ters  not  only  as  to  their  appointments,  but  in  all  their 
acts  as  citizens,  and  that  had  Lee  sincerely  desired  to  sup 
port  McLoughlin's  claim,  he  would  have  prevented  the 
Eev.  A.  F.  Waller,  a  Methodist  minister  whom  Lee  sta 
tioned  at  Willamette  Falls  in  1840,  ever  laying  claim  to 
the  land  in  dispute.  A  careful  analysis  of  the  facts  even 
as  stated  by  the  writer  in  Bancroft  fails  to  convict  Lee 
of  falsehood,  of  hypocrisy,  or  of  attempting  to  perpetrate 
the  slightest  injustice  upon  Dr.  McLoughlin.  The  story 
of  conflicting  claims  to  the  ownership  of  Willamette  Falls, 
set  up  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  by  Waller,  is  a  long  one, 
and  much  has  been  written  on  each  side.  Lee  believed 
in  the  justice  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  claim.  But  a  majority 
of  the  Methodists  then  on  the  ground,  with  all  the  facts 
before  them,  supported  Waller's  claim.  Congress  dealt 
generously  with  the  early  settlers  of  Oregon  by  making 
grants  to  most  of  them,  but  Congress  also,  even  after 

217 


THE  OREGON"  MISSIONS 

Waller's  claim  had  lapsed,  rejected  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
claim.  The  Legislature  of  Oregon,  with  all  the  facts 
before  it,  rejected  Dr.  McLoughlin's  claim  for  years,  and 
in  so  doing  it  reflected  the  general  judgment  of  the  citizens 
at  that  time.  But  Lee  stood  out  against  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  Americans  and  supported  McLoughlin's 
claim.  The  story  of  the  claim  in  brief  is  as  follows:  Dr. 
McLoughlin  recognized  the  great  value  of  these  Falls  and 
laid  claim  to  them  in  the  name  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  as  early  as  1829  and  began  some  improvements  on 
them.  But  the  Company  objected  to  the  location  of  a  mill 
south  of  the  Columbia  River  on  the  ground  that  they 
purposed  making  this  river  the  dividing  line  between  the 
two  countries.10  Later  McLoughlin  determined  to  build 
a  mill  at  the  Falls  for  himself,  and  it  is  said  that  he 
erected  several  houses  and  a  mill  race.11  McLoughlin's 
attempt  to  claim  land  south  of  the  Columbia  being  strenu 
ously  opposed  by  some  of  his  British  friends,  he  decided, 
about  1838,  to  relinquish  the  land  and  waterpower  to  his 
stepson,  Thomas  McKay.  Later  still  he  decided  to  keep 
it  himself,  and  he  built  a  house  to  replace  improvements 
destroyed  by  the  Indians,  and  openly  claimed  the  right  of 
preemption.  Upon  the  whole,  it  seems  to  us  that  Mc 
Loughlin  had  maintained  a  claim  to  the  land  and  water- 
power  at  the  Falls  superior  to  that  of  any  other  man,  and 
that  his  claim  should  have  been  granted  by  Congress. 
Waller's  claim  rested  on  the  ground  that  neither  McLough 
lin  nor  any  representative  of  McLoughlin  ever  had  lived 
at  the  Falls,  that  he  himself  was  the  first  white  man  living 
upon  and  actively  occupying  this  land,  and  that  he  (Wal- 

10  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  217. 

11  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  203. 

218 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

ler)  was  an  actual  bona  fide  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
whereas  McLoughlin  was  an  alien  and  the  agent  of  a 
"foreign  corporate  monopoly."12  It  is  stated  by  Ban 
croft13  that  Felix  Hathaway,  in  the  employment  of  the 
Mission,  began  in  1841  to  erect  a  house  on  an  island  below 
the  Falls — a  part  of  the  land  included  in  McLoughlin's 
claim;  and  that  McLoughlin  on  speaking  to  Waller  about 
this  trespass  was  assured  by  Waller  that  he  had  taken  a 
claim  lying  below  McLoughlin's  claim  and  that  Hathaway 
then  discontinued  building  a  house  on  the  island.  I  can 
not  find  that  Lee  had  any  connection  with  Hathaway's 
attempt  to  erect  this  building  or  that  Hathaway  was  em 
ployed  by  Lee,  who  was  superintendent  of  the  Mission. 
So  far  as  we  can  learn,  Lee's  first  connection  with  the  case 
was  in  the  autumn  of  1842,  when  Dr.  McLoughlin  told 
him  of  the  report  that  Waller  intended  to  dispute  his 
claim.14  Lee,  after  consulting  Waller,  assured  McLough 
lin  that  Waller  had  no  such  design.  Later  in  the  year 
McLoughlin  again  appealed  to  Lee.  On  Lee  going  to 
Waller  a  second  time,  Waller  insisted  that  Lee  had  not 
understood  him  correctly,  though  Lee  understood  him 
exactly  as  McLoughlin  understood  him  in  McLoughlin's 
first  interview.  Lee  now  learned  for  the  first  time  that 
Waller  intended  to  contest  McLoughlin's  claim.  Hence 
Lee  wrote  McLoughlin  in  answer  to  his  second  complaint 
as  follows :  "From  what  I  have  since  heard,  I  am  inclined 
to  think  I  did  not  understand  Mr.  Waller  correctly,  but 
I  am  not  certain  it  is  so."15  We  are  not  attempting  to 


12  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  215. 

13  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  204. 
"Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  205. 

"Quoted  by  Bancroft,  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  205. 

219 


THE  OEEGON  MISSIONS 

clear  Waller,  but  to  vindicate  Lee.  Had  Lee  possessed  the 
power  to  control  Waller's  acts  as  an  American  citizen,  then 
Lee  was  responsible  for  his  failure  to  do  so  and  for  the 
pressure  of  Waller's  claim  against  McLoughlin ;  and  Lee's 
letter  to  McLoughlin  had  in  that  case  been  deceitful.  But 
everyone  at  all  familiar  with  Methodism  knows  that  no 
superintendent  of  a  mission  and  no  bishop  in  that  church 
has  the  slightest  authority  to  interfere  with  the  civil  or 
political  rights  of  any  minister.  He  has  the  authority  to 
appoint  him  to  his  work;  and  the  minister  is  compelled 
to  accept  the  appointment  given  or  else  withdraw  from 
the  Conference,  though  not  from  the  church.  Lee's  addi 
tional  statement  in  his  letter  to  McLoughlin  is  correct: 
"You  will  here  allow  me  to  say,  that  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  by  becoming  a  missionary  does  not  renounce  any 
civil  or  political  right.  I  cannot  control  any  man  in  these 
matters,  though  I  had  not  the  most  distant  idea  when  I 
stationed  Mr.  Waller  there  that  he  would  set  up  a  private 
claim  to  the  land."16  Hence,  instead  of  starting  with  an 
entirely  false  theory  of  the  power  of  a  superintendent  of 
missions  and  charging  Lee  with  hypocrisy,  the  writer  in 
Bancroft's  History  should  have  known  that  the  laws  of 
the  church  relieve  him  of  all  responsibility  for  Waller's 
action  in  filing  this  claim.  It  is  true  that  six  Methodists 
and  three  other  citizens  of  the  Falls  joined  with  Waller 
in  1841  in  the  organization  of  the  Island  Milling  Com 
pany,  which  in  1842  erected  a  sawmill  on  the  disputed 
claim.17  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Lee  had  lost  the 
sympathy  of  the  missionaries  by  his  second  marriage ;  that 
already  several  of  the  missionaries  had  sent  home  com- 

16  Quoted  by  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  205. 

17  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  206,  207. 

220 

J> 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

plaints  against  him;  that  apparently  one  of  the  grounds 
of  complaint  was  Lee's  inclination  to  surrender  what  they 
regarded  as  their  rights  as  American  citizens  to  Dr.  Me- 
Loughlin,  the  head  of  a  Company  which  they  claimed  was 
unjustly  usurping  authority  over  the  Oregon  Country. 
This  charge  against  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  appears 
in  the  petition  of  1842  written  by  Shortess,  who  was  a 
Methodist.18  Again,  Lee  said  that  a  compromise  which 
was  rejected  by  the  Mission  party  and  others  composing 
the  milling  company,  was  a  fair  and  liberal  offer  on  Mc- 
Loughlin's  part.19  Again,  when  Lee  and  J.  L.  Parrish, 
of  the  Methodist  Mission,  were  visiting  Fort  Vancouver 
in  1843,  and  Parrish  affirmed  at  the  public  table  that  he 
never  heard  of  McLoughlin's  claim  to  the  island  before 
the  milling  company  began  the  erection  of  the  sawmill 
upon  it,  Lee  immediately  corrected  him,  saying,  "I  at 
tended  your  first  or  second  meeting,  and  it  is  the  only 
meeting  I  attended,  and  I  told  you  that  McLoughlin 
claimed  the  island."20  This  shows  clearly  that  Lee  was 
present  at  one  meeting  of  the  milling  company;  that  in 
that  meeting  Lee  told  the  company  that  McLoughlin 
claimed  the  island,  and  that  despite  the  information  given 
them  by  Lee,  the  company  erected  a  sawmill  on  the  claim 
in  dispute. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  by  the  action  of  either 
Lee  or  Leslie  as  superintendent  of  the  Mission,  probably 
by  the  act  of  Leslie  on  his  knowledge  of  Lee's  judgment, 
removed  Waller  from  Oregon  City  to  The  Dalles,  thus 
compelling  him  to  abandon  his  claim,  through  failure  to 

18  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  I,  pp.  207-209,  note. 

19  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  213. 

*>  Quoted  by  Bancroft,  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  214,  note. 

221 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

continue  his  residence  at  the  Falls.21  We  do  not  believe 
that  Waller  was  removed  from  Willamette  Falls  in  order 
to  destroy  his  claim.  It  is  probable  that  his  business 
affairs  at  Willamette  Falls-  were  injuring  his  usefulness 
as  a  minister  at  that  station.  But  his  transfer  to  The 
Dalles  was  due  to  the  need  of  ministerial  help  at  that  point. 
Daniel  Lee  and  his  wife,  who  were  stationed  at  The  Dalles, 
sailed  for  home  in  April,  1843.  This  forced  the  problem 
of  The  Dalles  upon  Jason  Lee  before  he  sailed  for  home 
probably  early  in  1844.  Toward  the  close  of  the  summer 
of  1844  Perkins  also  left  The  Dalles  for  the  East.  Hence 
either  Jason  Lee  before  sailing,  or  Leslie  some  time  after 
Jason  Lee  sailed,  appointed  Waller  to  The  Dalles  to  con 
tinue  the  work  in  that  mission;  and  Waller,  like  a  loyal 
Methodist  minister,  accepted  the  appointment  and  went 
to  The  Dalles,  thus  sacrificing  his  claim  at  the  Falls. 
Hence,  either  Lee  or  Leslie,  or  more  probably  both  com 
bined,  by  changing  Waller's  appointment  removed  that 
bar  to  McLoughlin's  claim. 

We  have  the  following  additional  assurance  of  the 
friendship  of  Jason  Lee  for  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  of  his 
fairness  toward  the  French-Canadian  settlers :  In  Congress 
a  persistent  effort  was  made,  especially  against  McLough 
lin,  by  limiting  the  grant  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  land  in  the  proposed  Oregon  land  grants  to  citizens  of 
the  United  States.  But  Bancroft  says  that  "Linn's  land 
bill,  which  was  suggested  by  Jason  Lee  himself,  had  no 
clause  preventing  foreigners  of  any  nation  from  becoming 
citizens  of  Oregon,  but  bestowed  on  every  white  male 

"Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  p. 
355. 

222 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

inhabitant  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land.  McLough- 
lin  accordingly  had  that  amount  surveyed  to  himself  in 
1842.  .  .  ,"22 

It  would  be  far  more  plausible  to  charge  Lee  with  a 
weak  surrender  to  McLoughlin  and  injustice  to  Waller. 
Because  of  Waller's  removal  to  The  Dalles,  neither  he  nor 
the  Methodist  Mission  in  the  end  set  up  a  rival  claim  for 
the  grant  of  Willamette  Falls.  Dr.  McLoughlin's  petition, 
therefore,  went  before  Congress  with  no  rival  claimant. 
How,  therefore,  is  it  possible  to  maintain  that  Lee  con 
tributed  to  McLoughlin's  failure  to  receive  the  favor  which 
he  asked  of  Congress?  Congress,  however,  refused  Mc 
Loughlin's  petition  and  granted  the  Falls  to  the  State  of 
Oregon  toward  the  endowment  of  a  State  university.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  then  petitioned  the  State  of  Oregon  to  grant 
him  the  Willamette  Falls  site.  The  Oregon  Legislature 
refused  the  petition  and  voted  to  grant  the  claim  to  the 
State  university.  Many  years  later,  though  unfortunately 
not  until  after  Dr.  McLoughlin's  death,  the  State  reversed 
its  early  decision  and  made  a  grant  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
estate. 

We  hold,  with  Lee,  that  morally  Dr.  McLoughlin  was 
entitled  to  the  site  which  the  Island  Milling  Company,  a 
majority  of  whom  were  Methodists,  claimed.  But  Jesse 
Applegate,  whom  Bancroft  commends  so  highly  for  his 
accuracy  and  fairness,  held  that  McLoughlin's  claim  to 
the  site  of  Willamette  Falls  was  invalidated  by  the  posi 
tion  taken  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  After  narrat 
ing  the  efforts  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  in  1844-45,  under  orders 
of  his  company  in  London,  to  keep  Americans  from  set- 
Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  1,  pp.  217,  218. 

223 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

tling  north  of  the  Columbia,  and  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
tearing  down  the  log  house  which  two  Americans  had 
built  on  some  uninclosed  land,  just  north  of  the  river, 
claimed  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  used  by  them 
for  the  pasture  of  their  cattle,  Bancroft  gives  the  following 
resume  of  Applegate's  comments:  "The  British  in  Oregon 
had  also  a  local  weak  point  to  defend.  They  had  been 
ordered  by  the  Board  of  Management  (the  London  officials 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company)  to  remove  their  establish 
ment  on  the  south  side  of  the  Columbia  to  the  north  side, 
but  had  not  done  so,  and  were  occupying  territory  supposed 
to  belong  to  the  United  States,  when  they  forcibly  ejected 
an  American  citizen  from  the  territory  they  claimed  for 
Great  Britain."2* 

A  summary  of  the  recorded  facts  in  regard  to  Dr.  Mc 
Loughlin's  claim  furnishes  clear  proof  of  Lee's  fairness 
and  his  friendship  for  McLoughlin:  (1)  He  accepted  a 
quit  claim  deed  from  McLoughlin  for  the  lot  at  Willamette 
Falls  on  which  the  Methodist  church  was  located,  thus 
legally  recognizing  McLoughlin's  claim  to  the  Falls;  (2) 
he  located  the  Methodist  claim  for  land  at  the  Falls  out 
side  of  McLoughlin's  claim,  thus  again  recognizing  the 
validity  of  that  claim;  (3)  he  corrected  Parrish's  state 
ment  that  he,  Parrish,  did  not  know  McLoughlin  claimed 
the  island;  (4)  he  asserted  that  the  compromise  proposed 
by  McLoughlin  and  rejected  by  the  Methodists  was  fair; 
(5)  he  refused  to  insert  the  word  "American"  before 
"settler,"  which  he  was  asked  to  do  in  order  to  exclude 
McLoughlin  and  other  Britishers  from  the  land  grants 
made  to  settlers  in  Oregon;  (6)  he  maintained  these  views 

M  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  463. 

224 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

and  performed  these  acts  against  the  sentiment  of  his 
fellow  missionaries,  of  the  local  community,  of  the  Oregon 
Legislature,  and  of  the  United  States  Congress.  Indeed, 
Lee's  support  of  McLoughlin  was  one  of  the  causes  of  that 
opposition  to  himself  by  members  of  the  Mission  which  led 
to  his  own  downfall.  It  is  a  pity  that  a  man  should  be 
represented  after  his  death  as  a  hypocrite  in  the  trans 
action  in  which  in  some  measure  at  least  he  sacrificed  the 
support  of  his  followers,  at  a  time  when  this  failure  cost 
him  his  own  position,  through  his  loyalty  to  a  friend  of 
an  alien  faith  and  a  foreign  nation. 

As  to  the  third  charge — that  Lee  was  worldly  and  ambi 
tious,  that  he  deceived  the  Missionary  Society  in  New  York 
and  misappropriated  missionary  funds — the  facts  disprove 
it  as  fully  as  they  disprove  the  two  former  charges.  In 
regard  to  the  claim  that  Lee  misappropriated  missionary 
funds:  a  careful  study  of  the  charge  shows  that  all  the 
writer  in  Bancroft's  history  means  by  this  ugly  charge  is 
that  Lee  used  for  white  work  money  which  the  Society 
appropriated  for  work  among  the  Indians.  Even  the 
writer  does  not  mean  that  Lee  appropriated  to  his  own 
use  any  money  contributed  for  mission  work.  On  the 
contrary,  the  writer  recognizes  that  with  many  oppor 
tunities  to  make  wise  investments,  Lee  remained  a  poor 
man  to  his  death.  She  records  the  fact  that  the  last  letter 
which  Lee  wrote  practically  gave  his  own  daughter,  with 
out  property,  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hines,  who  had  cared  for 
her  since  her  mother's  death  and  coveted  the  privilege 
of  bringing  her  up  in  their  own  home  and  allowing  her 
to  bear  her  father's  name;  and  that  the  next  to  the  last 
letter  which  Lee  wrote  was  one  bestowing  upon  the  Oregon 
Institute  the  small  amount  of  property  which  he  possessed, 

225 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

thus  showing  his  unselfish  devotion  to  his  church  and  the 
Mission  down  to  the  hour  of  his  death. 

What  is  left  of  the  charge,  namely  that  Lee  deceived  the 
Society  in  New  York  and  used  for  white  men  money  sent 
for  the  Indians,  is  wholly  disproved  by  the  record.  So 
far  from  Lee  deceiving  the  Society,  it  was  with  their  full 
knowledge  that  he  took  to  the  field  in  1839  the  mixed 
group  of  preachers,  teachers,  physicians,  mechanics,  and 
farmers,  with  their  wives  and  children.  The  facts  were 
not  only  discussed  in  detail  and  unanimously  adopted  by 
the  Society,  but  they  were  spread  before  the  church.  If 
the  writer  in  Bancroft  had  consulted  the  Christian  Advo 
cate  and  Journal,  he  would  have  found  spread  out  in  the 
pages  of  the  official  organ  of  the  church  in  its  issue  of 
December  21,  1838,  a  sort  of  proclamation  by  Nathan 
Bangs,  the  secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society,  setting 
forth  to  the  entire  membership  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  the  program  in  detail,  stating  clearly  that  the 
plans  as  unanimously  approved  by  the  Society  embraced 
a  gristmill  and  a  sawmill  with  all  necessary  building  ma 
terials,  tools,  and  implements ;  authorized  Lee  to  take  out, 
in  addition  to  this  machinery,  $5,000  worth  of  goods; 
provided  for  Lee  to  take  out,  in  addition  to  five  preachers, 
six  mechanics,  four  farmers,  a  missionary  steward  or 
treasurer  and  a  stewardess,  one  physician,  and  five  teachers, 
and  suggested  that  men  be  selected  whose  wives  were 
competent  to  teach  the  Indian  children ;  and,  finally,  that 
of  the  five  preachers  as  many  as  possible  be  physicians  also. 
The  proclamation  stated  that  $30,000  were  needed  to  cover 
the  initial  expenses  of  materials,  cost  of  passage,  and 
salaries  for  the  first  six  months.24  This  appeal  by  Dr. 

24  Atwood,  The  Conquerors,  pp.   68,  69. 

226 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

Bangs,  spread  before  the  church,  shows  how  wide  of  the 
mark  is  the  charge  that  Jason  Lee  deceived  the  Methodist 
people,  much  less  the  Society,  which  unanimously  adopted 
his  program.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Lee  secured  $37,000 
from  the  church,  which  with  the  $2,600  received  from  the 
secret  service  fund  of  the  government,  made  $39,600 — 
$9,000  more  than  the  amount  originally  called  for.  The 
only  item  in  the  budget  over  which  there  was  any  secrecy 
was  the  gift  of  the  government,  and  the  government  did 
not  wish  this  gift  published  lest  it  prejudice  her  negotia 
tions  with  Great  Britain.  But  Lee  entered  the  gift  in  his 
Journal  with  all  other  gifts,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the 
account  entered  the  money  as  paid  out  in  securing  passage 
for  the  missionaries  to  Oregon.  We  account  for  the  charge 
that  Lee  tricked  his  Eastern  directors  on  the  theory  that 
the  brilliant  author  of  the  chapter  in  Bancroft  had  no 
conception  of  the  common  sense  of  the  folks  called  Meth 
odists,  or  the  methods  of  modern  mission  work,  but  thought 
that  the  managers  of  the  Missionary  Society  were  pious 
ninnies  who  believed  only  in  sermons  and  tracts,  but  would 
raise  their  hands  in  holy  horror  over  the  common  sense 
methods  of  Lee  and  Whitman,  of  General  Armstrong  and 
Booker  T.  Washington. 

It  was  a  time  of  transition,  and  there  were  grounds  for 
honest  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  mission 
policy  for  work  among  the  Indians,  and  we  do  not  wonder 
that  Christian  men,  and  especially  writers  who  had  never 
devoted  serious  thought  to  mission  problems,  became  con 
fused  over  the  issues.  But  there  were  only  three  possible 
solutions  for  the  Indian  problem  which  confronted  the 
American  churches: 

First  is  the  attitude  which  the  historian  of  the  Pacific 

227 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Coast,  H.  H.  Bancroft,  takes:  "Speaking  generally,  all 
missionary  effort  is  a  failure.  .  .  .  The  greatest  boon 
Christianity  can  confer  upon  the  heathen  is  to  let  them 
alone."25  This  view  is  of  a  piece  with  the  principle  which 
for  half  a  century  dominated  the  secular  thought  and 
sometimes  the  conduct  of  the  frontier  settlers,  and  found 
expression  in  the  proverb,  "The  only  good  Indian  is  a 
dead  Indian."  We  are  ashamed  to  add  that  during  three 
centuries  of  contact  with  the  Indians  the  churches,  by 
their  neglect  of  the  Indian  race,  largely  have  acted  upon 
Mr.  Bancroft's  view.  This  view  is  essentially  pagan  and 
is  a  century  out  of  date. 

The  second  policy,  which,  could  it  have  been  embodied, 
might  have  proved  best  for  the  Indian  race,  was  their 
separation  from  the  white  race  until  they  approximated 
the  white  man's  stage  of  civilization.  As  the  white  races 
required  centuries  to  pass  from  their  first  knowledge  of 
the  gospel  to  their  present  stage  of  civilization,  probably 
the  Indians  could  not  have  compassed  the  journey  in  a 
century.  But  such  a  separation  of  the  two  races  could 
not  be  achieved  by  the  churches;  it  demanded  government 
action.  The  United  States  government  seriously  con 
templated  this  policy;  and  again  and  again  she  initiated 
it  by  establishing  reservations  for  the  Indians.  But  two 
grave  difficulties  prevented  the  success  of  government 
reservations.  Great  Britain  as  well  as  the  United  States 
recognized  the  Indians  as  a  separate  nation  by  making 
treaties  with  them.  It  was,  however,  inconsistent  with 
our  theory  of  personal  freedom  and  also  a  violation  of  our 
recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  Indians,  and  repug- 


25  Bancroft,  History  of  Northwest  Coast,  vol.  i,  p.  549. 

228 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

nant  to  the  wishes  and  ideals  of  the  Indians,  for  the  people 
of  the  republic  to  compel  the  people  of  a  sister  nation  to 
remain  upon  one  side  of  an  imaginary  reservation  line; 
theoretically  the  Indians  had  a  greater  right  to  cross  the 
line  of  reservation  and  revisit  the  scenes  of  their  childhood 
and  the  graves  of  their  fathers  and  to  remain  in  the  United 
States  as  settlers  than  the  people  of  Russia  and  Italy  and 
Spain.  With  the  conception  of  the  untrammeled  sov 
ereignty  of  nations  and  of  personal  and  religious  freedom 
which  prevailed  in  the  United  States  down  to  the  twentieth 
century,  the  second  solution  of  the  problem  was  as  im 
practicable  as  the  first  was  pagan.  Moreover,  no  political 
party  during  the  last  century  could  have  continued  in 
office  any  length  of  time  if  it  had  attempted  to  maintain 
against  the  encroaching  whites  a  reservation  for  the  In 
dians  sufficiently  large  to  give  them  a  fair  opportunity  to 
pass  from  the  hunting  to  the  farming  stage  of  civilization ; 
the  second  solution  of  the  problem  was  impossible. 

The  third  and  only  other  solution  of  the  Christianization 
of  the  Indians  possible  to  the  churches  of  the  United 
States  was  that  proposed  by  Jason  Lee  and  Marcus  Whit 
man  and  for  a  time  adopted  by  our  Missionary  Society. 
It  was  indeed  revolutionary;  it  seemed  extravagant;  it 
involved  an  abandonment  of  the  old  lines  between  sacred 
and  secular  callings;  it  rested  back  upon  the  conception 
that  not  the  life  of  the  minister  only  but  of  every  Chris 
tian  is  a  plan  of  God.  But  in  the  inevitable  and  the  speedy 
settlement  of  the  Oregon  Country,  and  especially  of  the 
Willamette  and  Columbia  River  Valleys,  by  the  whites, 
what  other  course  was  open  to  Jason  Lee  and  Dr.  Whitman 
except  to  urge  the  missionary  societies  to  send  preachers 
and  teachers  and  Christian  carpenters  and  blacksmiths 

229 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

and  physicians  and  farmers  into  the  country  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  make  plain  and  attractive  to  the  Indians  applied 
Christianity,  and  thus,  through  example  and  cooperation, 
through  regeneration  and  education,  lift  the  Indian  race 
to  a  plane  where  it  could  compete  with  the  incoming 
whites  ?  It  has  been  said  that  the  Missionary  Society  was 
extravagant  in  asking  for  $30,000  to  aid  Lee  in  1839,  and 
that  any  aid  of  Lee  by  the  government  trenched  upon  the 
independence  of  church  and  state.  But  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  it  was  only  four  years  from  the  time  of  Whitman's 
appeal  to  his  Board  until  he  and  Mrs.  Whitman  were 
massacred  and  the  three  glimmering  torches  of  civilization 
which  the  American  Board  had  kindled  in  the  upper  basin 
of  the  'Columbia  went  out  in  darkness,  that  it  was  only 
nine  years  from  the  time  the  Methodist  missionaries  set 
foot  in  Oregon  until  the  American  whites  were  there  in 
force  and  the  provisional  government  was  established,  and 
only  thirteen  years  until  their  missions  also  were  closed 
by  the  Indian  war,  the  verdict  of  history  will  be  that  all 
the  churches,  Protestant  and  Catholic  alike,  should  have 
moved  with  far  more  energy  and  speed  along  the  only  line 
possible  to  prevent  the  impending  crisis. 

In  the  missionary  annals  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  Jason  Lee  bears  the  same  relation  to  Melville  B. 
Cox  as  in  our  early  history  Bishop  Asbury  bore  to  Bishop 
Coke.  Coke  was  the  prophetic  dreamer;  Asbury  realized 
Coke's  dream.  So  Cox  was  a  splendid  prophecy  of  the 
triumphs  of  the  Kingdom.  He  entered  Africa  with  com 
prehensive  plans  and  flawless  consecration  on  March  9, 
1833.  Four  months  and  twelve  days  later  he  lay  dead 
upon  the  field,  leaving  the  church  only  his  heroic  summons, 
"Let  a  thousand  fall  before  Africa  be  given  up !"  Lee 

230 


LEE'S  SUN  SETS 

had  barely  time  to  hear  this  dying  cry  for  Africa  before 
taking  up  the  march  toward  the  western  shores  of  America. 
There  he  became  in  fact  what  Cox  was  in  splendid  purpose 
— the  man  who  set  the  stamp  of  his  life,  as  well  as  the  glory 
of  his  death,  upon  the  missionary  enterprises  of  the  church. 
Well  may  Bishop  Simpson  in  the  Cyclopaedia  of  Methodism 
pronounce  him  "the  peer  of  any  man  who  adorns  the  roll 
of  modern  workers  in  the  Church  of  Christ." 


231 


CHAPTER  XIV 
MARCUS  WHITMAN 

"Upholding,  like  the  Ark  of  God, 

The  Bible  in  their  van, 
They  went  to  test  the  truth  of  God 

Against  the  fraud  of  man. 
They  trod  the  prairie  as  of  old 

Their  fathers  sailed  the  sea, 
And  made  the  West  as  they  the  East 

The  homestead  of  the  free." 

WE  have  portrayed  the  work  of  seven  factors  in  the  strug 
gle  :  of  the  American  Indians ;  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  ;  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church ;  of  the  British  gov 
ernment;  of  the  United  States  government;  of  the  Ameri 
can  pioneers;  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  We 
have  yet  to  describe  another  important  factor. 

In  its  early  history  the  American  Board  of  Commis 
sioners  for  Foreign  Missions  represented  the  Congrega 
tional,  the  Dutch  Reformed,  and  the  Presbyterian 
Churches  of  the  United  States.  This  Board,  like  the 
Methodist  Missionary  Society,  had  been  stirred  by  the 
appeal  of  the  Nez  Perces  and  Flatheads.  The  Presby 
terians,  whose  representative  had  attended  and  spoken  at 
the  farewell  meeting  held  in  New  York  for  Jason  Lee, 
were  not  behind  the  Methodists  in  a  desire  to  evangelize 
the  Indians.  But  tempering  their  zeal  with  caution,  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  Ithaca,  New  York,  sent  out 

232 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

in  1835  the  Eev.  Samuel  Parker  with  directions  for  a 
preliminary  survey  of  the  field  before  locating  a  mission. 
By  arrangement  of  the  American  Board  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Parker  met  at  Saint  Louis  Dr.  Whitman,  who  was  going 
out  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  the  same  mission. 
They  traveled  together  in  a  company  of  white  trappers 
from  Saint  Louis  as  far  as  Green  River.  On  meeting? 
representatives  of  the  Nez  Perces  at  Green  River  and 
learning  that  the  Methodist  missionaries  had  passed  be 
yond  their  country,  Dr.  Whitman  in  his  zeal  resolved  to 
return  at  once  to  the  States  and  bring  out  reenforcements 
in  the  spring  of  1836  and  go  to  work  among  these  Indians. 
Mr.  Parker  consented  to  Dr.  Whitman's  return,  but  he 
continued  with  the  hunters  and  trappers  and  Indians  and 
reached  Fort  Vancouver  October  16,  1835 — a  year  after 
the  Methodists  arrived.1  He  visited  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River  and  the  Willamette  Valley,  spent f  the 
winter  at  Fort  Vancouver,  where  he  originated  the  custom 
of  assembling  the  Canadians  twice  each  Sunday  and  read 
ing  to  them  in  French  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures  and  a 
sermon,  went  back  in  the  spring  to  Fort  Walla  Walla, 
selected  Waiilatpu  and  Chemekane  as  future  stations  for 
mission  work;  he  then  returned  to  the  States  by  way  of 
Vancouver  and  Honolulu,  reaching  Ithaca  May  23,  1837, 
having  traveled  twenty-eight  thousand  miles.2  In  1838 
he  published  his  Journal  of  an  Exploring  Tour  Beyond 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Through  this  book  Parker  made 
a  real  contribution  to  the  knowledge  of  Oregon  at  a  time 
when  such  knowledge  was  greatly  needed.  He  thus  made 
a  double  contribution :  first,  to  the  cause  of  missions,  and, 

1  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  pp.  104-112. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  124. 

233 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

second,  to  the  American  settlement  of  Oregon.  Owing  to 
its  issue  in  1838,  four  years  before  Dr.  Whitman's  trip 
to  the  East,  and  to  the  sale  of  fifteen  hundred  copies  within 
a  few  years  of  its  issue,  Mr.  Parker's  volume  did  more  to 
awaken  the  East  and  secure  emigrants  for  Oregon  than 
did  Dr.  Whitman's  famous  trip  to  Boston  and  Washington 
in  1842-43. 

Dr.  Whitman  returned  to  Boston  from  Green  River  and 
reported  the  facts  and  received  authority  from  the  Ameri 
can  Board  to  secure  reenforcements  for  work  among  the 
Nez  Perces  and  Flatheads.  He  appealed  successfully  to 
Miss  Narcissa  Prentiss,  daughter  of  Judge  Prentiss,  of 
Prattsburg,  New  York,  to  become  his  bride.  They  were 
married  in  February,  1836,  and  with  his  wife  he  set  out 
on  his  second  trip  West  February  6.  At  Pittsburgh  they 
met  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding  and  his  wife,  who  were  on 
their  way  from  Oneida  'County,  New  York,  as  missionaries 
to  the  Osage  Indians.  After  due  consideration  and  prayer 
the  Spaldings  accepted  the  urgent  invitation  of  the  Whit 
mans  and  changed  their  plans  from  the  Osage  to  the  Nez 
Perces  Indians.  At  Liberty,  Missouri,  the  four  were 
joined  by  W.  H.  Gray,  previously  referred  to,  a  single  man, 
who  had  been  engaged  by  the  American  Board  as  a  me 
chanic  and  secular  aid  to  the  mission.  Dr.  Whitman  had 
been  furnished  by  the  Board  with  blacksmiths'  tools,  some 
carpenters'  tools,  a  plow,  grain,  and  garden  seeds,  etc.,  for 
making  the  Mission  as  far  as  possible  self-supporting.  At 
Liberty  they  .bought  wagons,  pack  mules,  horses,  and  six 
teen  cows.  Dr.  Whitman  succeeded  in  taking  his  wagon 
as  far  as  Fort  Boise;  this  is  the  first  wagon  ever  taken 
beyond  Fort  Hall.3  The  missionaries  went  past  the  In- 

s  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  133,  note. 

234 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

dians  to  whom  they  were  sent  and  on  to  Fort  Vancouver, 
which  they  reached  September  13,  1836.  There  the  two 
women  remained  while  the  men  went  back  to  explore  the 
country.  Mrs.  Spalding  and  Mrs.  Whitman  were  the  first 
white  women  to  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains,  going  over 
the  South  Pass,  six  years  before  Fremont  gained  fame  as 
"The  Pathfinder"  by  describing  it;  the  two  brides  enjoyed 
one  of  the  longest  wedding  journeys  on  record.  The  men 
left  Fort  Vancouver  on  the  return  tour  of  exploration 
November  3  and  reached  Waiilatpu,  six  miles  from  what 
is  now  Walla  Walla,  November  14.  In  accordance  with 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker's  judgment,  Dr.  Whitman  de 
cided  to  settle  here  among  the  Cayuse  Indians.  After  con 
structing  temporary  quarters,  W.  H.  Gray  was  left  here 
while  Dr.  Whitman  and  Mr.  Spalding  went  ninety  miles 
farther  east  to  Lapwai,  about  ten  miles  from  what  is  now 
Lewiston,  Idaho,  which  they  reached  November  28.  Mr. 
Spalding  decided  to  settle  here  among  the  Nez  Perces 
Indians.  In  1837  Mr.  Gray  returned  to  the  East  for  re- 
enforcements,  married,  and  came  back  to  the  mission  field, 
bringing  his  wife  and  accompanied  by  the  Revs.  Gushing 
Eells,  A.  B.  Smith,  Elkanah  Walker  and  their  wives,  and 
Mr.  Cornelius  Rogers.  The  Revs.  Gushing,  Eells,  and 
Elkanah  Walker  settled  among  the  Spokanes  at  Cheme- 
kane,  not  far  from  Fort  Colville,  on  a  site  which  had  been 
selected  for  the  mission  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker.  We 
believe  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith  and  wife  settled  at  Kamiah. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  after  investigating  the  conditions  on 
the  field,  no  Protestant  or  Roman  Catholic  missionary 
considered  it  wise  to  found  a  mission  among  the  scattered 
Flatheads  in  the  mountains  of  Montana. 

The  missionaries  at  Lapwai  and  Waiilatpu  built  log 

235 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

houses,  broke  up  the  land,  sowed  grain  and  planted  garden 
seeds,  and  carefully  attended  to  the  horses,  sheep,  and 
cattle;  at  the  same  time  they  began  preaching  to  the  In 
dians,  teaching  the  Indian  children  to  read,  and  the  older 
people  to  break  up  the  land,  build  houses  and  do  house 
work.  Mr.  Spalding  erected  at  Lapwai  a  gristmill  and 
a  sawmill,  both  of  which  proved  of  great  service.  Dr.' 
Whitman  had  a  small  mill  consisting  of  a  spherical 
wrought-iron  burr,  four  or  five  inches  in  diameter,  sur 
rounded  by  a  counterburred  surface  of  the  same  material, 
run  by  water,  in  which  he  could  grind  flour  enough  in 
a  day  to  last  the  large  family,  including  the  Indian  chil 
dren  whom  he  soon  had  on  his  hands,  for  a  week.  Mrs. 
Whitman  started  a  school  at  Waiilatpu  which  contributed 
greatly  to  the  civilization  of  the  Indians.  A  Presbyterian 
church  was  organized  at  Lapwai  in  1838  and  another  at" 
Waiilatpu  about  the  same  time.  The  church  at  Lapwai 
is  still  in  existence  with  a  full-blood  Indian  pastor,  and 
is  the  mother  of  Presbyterianism  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
The  Presbyterian  Church,  since  the  separation  of  the  work 
of  the  two  churches,  has  shown  greater  perseverance  and 
accomplished  more  for  the  remaining  Indians  than  any 
other  Protestant  church.4 

In  starting  schools  and  also  in  teaching  the  Indians 
farming  the  American  Board  followed  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  Methodist  Mission,  because  similar  conditions  called 
forth  similar  efforts.  The  native  church  of  the  American 
Board  at  Honolulu  sent  Mr.  Spalding  a  printing  press  in 
1839,  Mr.  Hall,  one  of  the  printers  of  Honolulu,  bringing 
it  and  teaching  the  missionaries  at  Lapwai  how  to  operate 

4  See  footnote  11,  page  79. 

236 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

it.  This  was  the  first  printing  press  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  members  of  the  American  Board  at 
Boston,  like  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Missionary 
Society  at  New  York,  were  surprised  that  their  mission 
aries  were  so  soon  engaged  in  teaching,  farming,  milling, 
weaving,  etc.,  instead  of  being  completely  absorbed  in 
preaching  the  gospel.  During  the  next  few  years  the 
Board  also  was  hard  pressed  to  secure  funds  for  the  Mis 
sion.  From  its  start  in  1835  to  its  close  in  1847  the  Mis 
sion  is  reported  to  have  cost  the  Board  over  $40,000. 

Again,  like  Jason  Lee,  Dr.  Whitman  gradually  became 
interested  in  saving  the  Oregon  Country  to  the  United 
States.  As  already  narrated  Lee  visited  Dr.  Whitman  on 
his  first  trip  to  the  States  in  1838,  carrying  with  him  the 
second  petition  for  the  establishment  of  the  United  States 
government  in  Oregon.  Lee  remained  with  Whitman  over 
Sunday  and  was  enthusiastic  over  the  possibilities  of  the 
Willamette  Valley,  while  Whitman  was  equally  enthusi 
astic  over  the  fertility  of  Waiilatpu.  Dr.  Whitman  was- 
stirred  over  the  coming  of  the  Roman  Catholic  mission 
aries  to  Oregon  in  1838,  and  especially  over  the  arrival 
of  some  eighty  emigrants,  including  women  and  children 
from  the  Red  River  Country  in  1841. 

Dissensions  having  arisen  between  Dr.  Whitman  and 
Mr.  Spalding,  Whitman  decided  to  resign.  But  the  acci 
dental  drowning  of  Dr.  Whitman's  daughter,  June  23, 
1839,  brought  the  missionaries  together  in  sorrow,  and 
their  dissensions  were  temporarily  healed.  But  Cornelius 
Rogers  resigned  from  the  Mission  in  1841  and  went  to  the 
Willamette  Valley,  and  W.  H.  Gray  resigned  in  October, 
1842,  and  also  went  to  the  Willamette  Valley.  On  Dr. 
Elijah  White's  return  to  Oregon  in  1842  with  about  one 

237 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

hundred  and  twenty-five  emigrants,  he  brought  with  him 
a  letter  from  the  American  Board  to  Dr.  Whitman.  On 
account  of  the  cost  of  the  Missions  and  the  dissensions  of 
the  missionaries  this  letter  instructed  Mr.  Spalding  to 
return  East. 

The  fate  of  the  Mission  was  hanging  in  the  balance; 
for  the  letter  of  the  Prudential  Committee  which  Dr. 
Whitman  had  received  not  only  recalled  Mr.  Spalding  and 
wife,  but  also  advised  the  return  of  W.  H.  Gray  and  wife 
and  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith  and  wife,  and  the  closing  of 
the  stations  at  Lapwai  and  Waiilatpu  and  the  continuance 
of  only  one  station,  that  at  Chemekane.  This  station  was 
not  far  from  Fort  Colville,  was  six  miles  north  of  the 
Spokane  River  and  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
miles  north  of  Waiilatpu  and  fully  that  distance  off  the 
main  line  of  emigration  then  setting  toward  the  Columbia. 
The  Spokane  Indians  were  less  intelligent  and  enterpris 
ing  than  the  Cayuse  Indians  and  the  Nez  Perces,5  and 
farming  at  Chemekane  was  not  so  successful  on  account 
of  the  frosts.6  As  Mr.  Rogers  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gray 
already  had  resigned  and  gone  to  the  Willamette,  and  the 
Rev.  A.  B.  Smith  and  wife,  both  broken  in  health,  had 
resigned  and  gone  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  recall  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spalding  would  decrease  the  missionary 
force  by  seven.  Besides,  J.  D.  Paris  and  wife  and  W.  G. 
Rice  and  wife,  who  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Board  in 
1840,  had  located  at  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Obeying  the 
orders  from  the  Board  would  leave  only  six  on  the  field, 
namely,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman,  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eells, 
Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker,  with  no  prospect  of  reenforce- 

8  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  123. 
6  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i.  p.  339. 

238 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

ments.  The  Mission  was  facing  a  crisis.  This  was  Dr. 
Whitman's  chief  and  sufficient  motive  for  the  journey  East. 
Whitman,  Spalding,  Eells,  and  Walker  met  at  Waiilatpu 
September  26,  1842;  their  dissensions  were  composed  and 
Dr.  Whitman  resolved  to  return  to  Boston  and  consult 
with  the  Board  before  closing  Mr.  Spalding's  station.  In 
addition  to  the  missionary  motive,  Dr.  Whitman  wished 
to  see  the  government  at  Washington  and  hasten  its  efforts 
to  preserve  the  territory  to  the  United  States.  He  wished 
also,  if  possible,  to  secure  some  American,  Christian  emi 
grants  for  Waiilatpu.  These  also  were  worthy  and  impor 
tant  motives  for  the  journey. 

Owing  to  dissensions,  Dr.  White's  party  had  broken  into 
two  sections.  A.  L.  Lovejoy,  who  later  rose  to  eminence 
in  Oregon,  was  with  the  Hastings  section  of  the  party. 
He  was  left  behind  by  Hastings  to  search  for  a  lost  com 
panion;  and  when  he  reached  Waiilatpu  Hastings  had 
gone  on,  so  he  remained  at  the  Mission  for  about  a  month.7 
As  the  route  was  clear  in  Mr.  Lovejoy's  memory,  Dr. 
Whitman  urged  him  to  return  East  with  him;  and,  after 
some  thought,  Mr.  Lovejoy  consented.  October  3,  1842, 
they  mounted  horses  and  with  three  pack  mules  and  a 
faithful  dog  started  East.  From  a  human  point  of  view 
it  did  not  seem  possible  that  the  journey  could  be  made 
during  the  winter,  when  there  would  be  little  food  for 
the  horses  and  not  a  house  to  shelter  them  for  the  twenty- 
five  hundred  miles,  save  at  the  trading  posts.  But  Dr. 
Whitman  felt  that  God  would  help  them,  and  they  set  out 
bravely  on  the  journey.  In  eleven  days  they  reached  Fort 
Hall,  six  hundred  miles  southeast,  although  they  rested 
Sunday.  Averaging  sixty  miles  a  day  was  proof  that 

7  Ibid.,  voL  i,  p.  262,  note. 

239 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

the  men  realized  the  danger  of  the  oncoming  winter.  At 
Fort  Hall,  Captain  Grant  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
assured  them  that  the  Cheyennes  and  the  Pawnees  were 
at  war  and  that  it  was  sure  death  to  cross  their  country, 
and  that  the  snow  was  already  falling  on  the  mountains 
to  the  south.8  As  both  routes  seemed  thus  closed,  Captain 
Grant  advised  them  to  return  to  Waiilatpu  or  else  to  stay 
with  him  until  spring.  Dr.  Whitman  declined  his  advice 
and  kind  offer,  but  decided  to  take  the  old  Spanish  trail 
from  Fort  Hall  to  Santa  Fe  instead  of  crossing  the  moun 
tains  over  the  South  Pass  and  then  going  down  the  trail 
along  the  Platte  and  the  Missouri  to  Saint  Louis.  They 
hoped  thus  to  escape  hostile  Indians;  they  would  be  bear 
ing  southeast  to  Santa  Fe  and  thus  hoped  for  warmer 
weather;  and  they  hoped  they  could  procure  guides  from 
point  to  point.  They  took  their  first  guide  at  Fort  Hall. 
They  encountered  terrible  snowstorms  in  the  mountains 
between  Forts  Hall  and  Uinta  which  caused  much  loss  of 
time.  With  a  new  guide  they  pushed  on  to  Fort  Uncom- 
pahgre,  where  another  guide  was  obtained  and  they  started 
for  Taos,  New  Mexico.  After  four  or  five  days  of  travel 
they  encountered  a  western  blizzard  and  were  forced  to 
stop  four  days  in  a  canon,  feeding  their  horses  on  the  bark 
of  the  cottonwood  trees  and  sleeping  without  a  tent  for 
shelter.  They  then  attempted  to  go  on,  but  were  driven 
back  by  snow  and  wind  and  spent  three  days  more  in  the 
canon,  making  seven  days'  delay  caused  by  this  blizzard. 
Their  next  effort  to  advance  was  equally  dangerous;  the 
landmarks  were  covered  with  snow,  the  guide  admitted 
that  he  had  lost  his  way,  they  made  but  little  progress  for 
two  or  three  days,  and  finally  the  guide  refused  to  lead  in 
8  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  158. 

240 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

any  further  advance.  As  Lovejoy  showed  signs  of  exhaus 
tion  from  the  journey  West  and  the  severe  trials  of  the 
return  trip,  Dr.  Whitman  advised  him  to  stop  in  the  canon 
for  recuperation  (?)  while  he  went  back  with  the  guide 
to  Fort  Uncompahgre.  At  the  Fort  Dr.  Whitman's  im 
perious  will  overcame  the  frightened  half-frozen  guide's 
prophecy  of  sure  death,  and  a  second  guide  started  out 
with  Whitman.  After  seven  days  of  lonely  waiting  in 
the  canon,  Lovejoy  was  delighted  at  Whitman's  return 
with  a  new  guide.  As  the  storm  had  abated  they  again 
set  forth,  but  at  a  snail's  pace  on  account  of  the  deep  snow 
and  the  severe  cold.  They  came  to  Grand  River,  which, 
despite  its  swiftness,  was  frozen  a  third  of  the  way  over 
on  each  side.  The  new  guide  despaired  and  said  they 
could  not  cross  the  stream.  Dr.  Whitman  rode  his  horse 
out  upon  the  ice  and  Lovejoy  and  the  Indian  prodded  the 
horse  with  poles  and  he  advanced  until  the  ice  broke  and 
horse  and  rider  were  plunged  into  the  stream.  They  were 
carried  down  the  river,  but,  breaking  the  ice  with  a  pole 
until  he  came  to  thick  ice,  Dr.  Whitman  succeeded  in 
landing  and  then  in  helping  the  horse  out.  Lovejoy  and 
the  Indian  pushed  the  two  pack  mules  in  and  then  followed 
themselves;  and  by  divine  favor  all,  including  the  dog, 
got  over  safely.  January  12,  1843,  was  so  cold  that  many 
people  throughout  the  West  perished  in  the  blizzard.  The 
little  company  was  encamped  in  a  mountain  canon.  The 
guide  protested  against  moving,  but  Dr.  Whitman  was 
determined  to  start.  Soon  wind  and  snow  blinded  them 
and  chilled  them  to  the  bone.  The  animals  refused  to 
travel  against  the  storm,  and  animals  and  men  turned 
back  toward  the  camp  which  they  had  left  an  hour  or 
two  before.  But  the  tracks  soon  filled  with  snow  so  that 

241 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

they  could  not  tell  the  direction,  and  after  a  short  time, 
men  and  animals  were  lost.  They  huddled  together  for 
shelter,  and  Dr.  Whitman,  despairing  of  their  lives,  dis 
mounted,  knelt  in  the  snow,  and  commended  them  all  to 
God.  While  the  doctor  was  praying,  the  guide  noticed 
one  of  the  pack  mules  prick  up  its  ears.  He  stopped  the 
doctor  and  started  the  mule  forward.  The  mule  moved, 
at  first  with  hesitation,  but  presently  taking  a  course 
down  the  mountain  it  led  them  to  the  ravine  and  up  to 
the  very  embers  of  the  fire  which  they  had  left  in  the  morn 
ing.  Whitman  and  Lovejoy  dismounted  and  helped  down 
the  guide,  who  was  partially  frozen.  The  doctor  and  Love- 
joy  were  also  badly  frost-bitten.  After  waiting  several 
days  until  the  storm  had  abated  they  pushed  forward 
again.  Their  provisions  now  gave  out  and  they  killed  the 
faithful  dog,  which  had  stayed  the  seven  lonely  days  with 
Lovejoy  in  the  canon;  later  they  killed  one  of  the  mules. 
(We  hope  that  mule's  spirit  went  to  heaven,  and  the  dog's 
too;  and  the  hope  is  in  line  with  the  teaching  of  John 
Wesley,  who  believed  that  animals  in  some  higher  form 
will  enjoy  a  future  life.) 

When  they  reached  Taos  they  were  so  frozen  and  ema 
ciated  with  hunger  that  they  rested  two  weeks;  the  horses 
were  unable  to  travel  farther  and  they  exchanged  them 
for  fresh  ones.  But  they  had  now  passed  the  points  of 
greatest  danger  and  the  remainder  of  the  journey  promised 
to  be  comparatively  warm  and  safe.  But,  strange  to  say, 
between  Taos  and  Bent's  Fort,  Dr.  Whitman  came  nearest 
to  death.9  Suddenly  learning  that  a  party  was  leaving 

9  (Note  discrepancies  in  Lovejoy's  letter  in  Clarke  and 
Eells.)  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  pp.  425-427, 
Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  pp.  156-158. 

242 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

Benf s  Fort  for  Saint  Louis  in  a  few  days,  Dr.  Whitman 
bought  the  best  horse  he  could  procure,  and,  leaving  Love- 
joy  to  come  on  at  a  more  leisurely  pace,  he  attempted  to 
catch  the  Bent's  Fort  party.  Thus  far  the  doctor  had 
rested  every  Sunday  and  had  held  morning  and  evening 
prayers.  But  without  observing  Sunday  he  now  tried  to 
overtake  the  party.  A  day  or  two  later  Lovejoy  started 
on,  and  after  four  days  of  travel  reached  Bent's  Fort, 
there  to  learn  with  dismay  that  the  party  had  started 
on  to  Saint  Louis  two  days  earlier,  but  that  Dr.  Whitman 
had  not  overtaken  them  or  been  seen  at  all.  Sending  on 
a  courier  to  ask  the  party  to  wait,  Lovejoy  started  out 
to  search  for  the  lost  doctor.  On  Friday  evening  the 
doctor  reached  the  Fort  greatly  worn  out  physically,  and 
mentally  bewildered.  His  loss  of  the  trail  and  his  close 
call  to  death  were  attributed  by  him  to  the  fact  that  he 
traveled  on  Sunday.  Joining  the  party  a  little  later,  the 
journey  was  made  safely  to  Saint  Louis  and  on  to  Wash 
ington. 

History  records  few  more  heroic  journeys  than  this  ride 
by  Dr.  Whitman  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  days,  from 
Waiilatpu  to  Washington.  Lovejoy  was  his  companion  on 
the  dangerous  part  of  the  journey,  but  decided  to  wait  at 
Bent's  Fort  until  the  doctor's  return,  and  they  met  again 
at  Fort  Laramie  in  the  spring  of  1843.  This  ride  and 
the  ride  which  "Squire"  Ebberts  and  Joseph  L.  Meek 
made  in  1847-48  from  Willamette  Falls  to  Washington 
are  the  two  most  heroic  horseback  journeys  in  American 
history. 

Many  people  had  decided  to  go  to  Oregon  in  the  spring 
of  1843  through  the  campaign  in  favor  of  Oregon  started 
by  Jason  Lee  during  1838-39,  through  the  distribution 

243 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

of  Congressional  documents,  the  editorials  and  news  items 
in  the  newspapers,  and  especially  through  the  provision 
in  the  bills  before  Congress  for  the  grant  of  a  square  mile 
of  land  to  every  man  over  eighteen  years  of  age  who  became 
a  settler  in  Oregon.  Dr.  Whitman  encouraged  those  pro 
posing  emigration  and  doubtless  influenced  a  few  more 
to  start  by  announcing  that  he  was  returning  in  the  spring 
and  would  help  pilot  the  company  across  the  plains  and 
mountains. 

The  Tyler  administration  in  1843  was  hesitating  be 
tween  a  compromise  with  Great  Britain  and  a  demand  on 
Mexico  for  the  surrender  of  the  northern  portion  of  Cali 
fornia  and  of  Texas,  or  a  demand  on  Great  Britain  for  the 
49th  parallel  from  the  Eocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific 
Coast.  In  considering  Dr.  Whitman's  part  in  this  struggle 
we  are  face  to  face  with  a  long  and  bitter  controversy  over 
matters  of  fact.  On  the  one  side  it  is  affirmed  that  Dr. 
Whitman  on  learning  that  Lord  Ashburton  had  reached 
Washington  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  treaty  with  our 
government  settling  boundaries  between  Canada  and  the 
United  States,  left  Waiilatpu  October  3,  1842,  making  his 
journey  East  in  the  winter  time  in  order  that  he  might 
influence  the  action  of  the  United  States  government  in 
regard  to  Oregon;  that  he  went  direct  from  Saint  Louis 
to  Washington,  reaching  that  city  March  3,  1843,10  that 
he  met  Daniel  Webster,  the  secretary  of  state,  President 
Tyler,  and  the  entire  Cabinet;11  and  that  as  the  result  of 
these  meetings  President  Tyler  promised  to  stop  .nego 
tiations  relating  to  Oregon  until  Dr.  Whitman  could 

10  Barrows,  Oregon:  The  Struggle  for  Possession,  pp.  174- 
177. 

"Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  160. 

244 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

demonstrate  the  feasibility  of  a  wagon  road  to  the  Colum 
bia;  that  Dr.  Whitman  helped  to  create  and  then  led  in 
safety  the  company  of  over  eight  hundred  emigrants  to 
the  Columbia  in  1843,  and  thus  contributed  more  than 
any  other  American  to  secure  Oregon  to  the  United  States. 
On  the  other  side  it  is  pointed  out  that  the  Ashburton 
treaty  was  signed  August  9,  1842,  nearly  two  months 
before  Dr.  Whitman  left  Waiilatpu,  and  that  Lord  Ash- 
burton  had  sailed  back  to  England;  that  the  plain  cause 
of  Dr.  Whitman's  visit  to  the  East  was  the  letter  from 
the  American  Board  brought  to  Waiilatpu  by  Dr.  White 
in  September,  1842,  and  the  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Mission.  The  advocates  of  this  view  maintain  that  there 
was  no  treaty  pending  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  relating  to  Oregon  in  1843,  when  Dr.  Whit 
man  is  said  to  have  visited  Washington  and  called  upon 
Webster,  Tyler,  and  the  Cabinet;  that  the  claim  of  his 
great  services  in  saving  Oregon  was  never  put  forward 
until  1864,  twenty-one  years  after  the  supposed  service  was 
rendered;  that  those  who  put  it  forward  have  been  con 
victed  of  numerous  mistakes  in  their  statements  as  to 
facts  of  history,  and  that  the  whole  claim  may  be  justly 
characterized  as  the  "Whitman  Legend/'  The  leaders  in 
supporting  Dr.  Whitman's  claim  are  Spalding,  Barrows, 
Clarke,  Eells,  Gray,  Lyman,  Mowry,  and  Nixon;  the  lead 
ers  among  the  opponents  are  Bancroft,  Bourne,  Marshall, 
Evans,  Hines,  Scott,  and  Mrs.  Victor.  The  claim  was 
first  put  forward  by  H.  H.  Spalding  in  1864.  In  1865 
the  Rev.  G.  H.  Atkinson  called  the  attention  of  the  Rev. 
S.  B.  Treat,  secretary  of  the  American  Board,  to  Spald- 
ing's  statement.  Mr.  Treat  expressed  doubt  as  to  the 
reliability  of  Spalding's  statements,  but  on  Dr.  Atkinson 

245 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

asking  him  to  write  the  Kev.  Gushing  Eells  for  confirma 
tion  and  mentioning  the  great  value  of  the  story  for  mis 
sion  purposes,  Mr.  Treat  wrote,  and  upon  Mr.  Eells's  con 
firmation,  the  statement  was  put  forth  at  the  annual  meet 
ing  of  the  Board  at  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  in  1866.12 
The  statement  produced  a  profound  impression  upon  the 
audience  and  was  widely  reported  in  the  newspapers.  It 
was  stoutly  reaffirmed  by  W.  H.  Gray,  History  of  Oregon, 
in  1870,  by  H.  H.  Spalding  in  1871  (Exec.-Document 
No.  37,  41st  Congress,  3rd  Session),  by  the  Rev.  Myron 
Eells  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  1883  and  in  one  pub 
lished  in  1902  in  reply  to  Professor  Bourne,  and  in  his 
volume  on  Marcus  Whitman,  published  in  1909. 

Originally  we  accepted  the  statements  made  in  favor 
of  Dr.  Whitman's  claim,  and  our  pamphlet,  A  Romance 
of  Missions,  published  in  1884,  presents  his  services  from 
this  point  of  view.  After  reading  the  volumes  upon  both 
sides  of  the  controversy  we  are  constrained  to  the  con 
viction  that  while  Dr.  Whitman  rendered  real,  important, 
and  lasting  services  to  the  emigrants  who  went  to  Oregon 
in  1843,  and  real  service  to  the  country,  the  claims  put 
forth  on  his  behalf  were  far  beyond  the  facts. 

We  reverse  our  early  opinion  reluctantly  and  only  in 
the  face  of  what  seems  to  us  overwhelming  evidence.  The 
early  story  furnished  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  in 
fluence  of  a  single  missionary  in  helping  keep  an  invaluable 
territory  under  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  by 
one  of  the  most  heroic  rides  in  history.  But  that  the 
evidence  against  the  claims  of  Spalding,  Gray,  Barrows, 
Nixon,  Mowry,  and  Eells  in  behalf  of  Whitman  is  con- 

"  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  pp.  202,  203. 

246 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

vincing  to  those  who  look  up  evidence  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  following  writers  who  originally  lent  their 
authority  and  gave  currency  to  the  claim  put  forth  for 
Dr.  Whitman  have  changed  their  convictions:  Mrs.  F.  F. 
Victor  gave  currency  to  the  story  of  Dr.  Whitman's  re 
markable  achievements  in  her  River  of  the  West,  pub 
lished  in  1870,  but  later  openly  repudiated  the  claim  in 
Bancroft's  History  of  Oregon,  of  which  she  is  largely  the 
author.13  The  Rev.  H.  K.  Hines  introduced  to  the  Meth 
odist  public  the  story  of  Whitman's  saving  Oregon  in  an 
article  published  in  The  Ladies'  Repository  about  1869. 
Thirty  years  later  in  his  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest  he  no  longer  supports  the  claim  of  Dr.  Whit 
man's  services  in  saving  the  country,  which  he  had  em 
bodied  in  the  early  article.14  William  J.  Marshall  first 
accepted  through  Dr.  Mowry  in  1877  the  story  of  Dr. 
Whitman's  remarkable  services  to  the  government.  In 
November,  1884,  he  gave  the  first  expression  to  his  doubts 
of  Whitman's  special  services  to  the  nation,  and  later 
made  the  fullest  refutation  yet  published  of  these  claims 
in  the  two  volumes  entitled  The  Acquisition  of  Oregon, 
published  in  1911.  In  addition  the  following  authors  of 
textbooks  on  the  history  of  the  United  States  who  had  set 
forth  the  services  of  Dr.  Whitman  to  our  government  have 
accepted  the  conclusions  of  Bourne  and  Marshall  and  have 
announced  their  purpose  to  omit  or  revise  their  accounts 
of  Dr.  Whitman's  services  to  the  nation :  J.  B.  McMaster, 
H.  E.  Scudder,  D.  H.  Montgomery,  W.  F.  Gordy,  A.  F. 

13  Bourne,  Essays  in  Historical  Criticism,  p.  36    (see  also 
pp.  23,  25). 

14  Hines,  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  pp. 
464-474. 

247 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Blaisdell,  Mrs.  A.  H.  Burton,  and  John  Fiske.15  Mr. 
Fiske  in  his  centennial  oration  on  Astoria,  Oregon,  em 
bodied  the  story  of  Dr.  Whitman's  remarkable  services  to 
the  country.  But  after  Professor  Bourne's  publication 
of  the  Legend  of  Marcus  Whitman  in  the  American  His 
torical  Review,  January,  1901,  Fiske  wrote  him:  "You 
have  entirely  demolished  the  Whitman  delusion.  ...  I 
am  sorry  to  say  that  I  was  taken  in  by  Barrows  and 
Gray."16  Here  are  the  names  of  ten  writers  who  at  first 
accepted  the  story  of  Dr.  Whitman's  services  to  our  gov 
ernment  in  saving  Oregon  to  the  United  States,  each  one 
of  whom  now  repudiates  that  claim.  On  the  other  hand 
we  do  not  know  a  single  recognized  historian  who  has  been 
led  by  the  sifting  of  evidence  to  accept  the  claims  put 
forth  by  H.  H.  Spalding  and  maintained  by  Dr.  Eells. 

But  as  Dr.  Eells  does  not  accept  the  verdict  of  these 
historians,  an  examination  of  his  views  becomes  necessary. 
An  analysis  of  all  the  facts  and  an  examination  of  the 
theories  advanced  to  explain  the  facts  forces  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  Whitman's  visit  to  Washington  in  the 
winter  or  spring  of  1843  had  no  decisive  influence  upon 
the  administration,  though  we  think  it  had  an  influence 
in  shaping  public  opinion  in  the  presidential  election  of 
1844. 

The  advocates  of  Dr.  Whitman  ask  why  he  took  the 
great  risk  and  passed  through  the  great  hardships  of  the 
winter  journey  if  his  only  or  chief  aim  in  going  East  was 
to  save  the  Mission,  whereas  on  their  theory  that  it  was 
essential  for  him  to  reach  Washington  before  the  adjourn 
ment  of  Congress  March  3,  1843,  there  is  ample  ground 

15  Bourne,  Essays  in  Historical  Criticism,  p.  51,  note. 

16  Ibid.,  p.  51,  note. 

248 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

for  the  risk  and  the  hardships.  The  reply  is  twofold: 
First,  we  have  the  definite  reason  for  the  immediate  start 
given  by  Mrs.  Whitman  in  her  letter  of  September  30, 
1843,  written  at  the  time  when  the  facts  and  reasons  were 
clearly  in  mind  and  also  written  when  there  was  no  dream 
of  controversy.  When  Dr.  Whitman  decided  to  go  East 
two  courses  were  open  to  him.  As  it  was  the  last  of 
September,  he  could  remain  at  Waiilatpu  until  the  spring 
and  make  the  journey  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1843. 
But  in  that  case  he  could  not  return  in  1843,  for  he  could 
not  cross  the  continent  and  return  during  a  single  summer. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  could  start  East  immediately  and 
by  reaching  Saint  Louis  in  December  he  could  go  on  to 
Boston  and  Washington  in  the  winter,  and  start  back  in 
May  and  reach  his  family  and  work  by  the  fall  of  1843. 
If  he  started  East  about  October  1,  he  would  be  absent 
from  his  home  and  his  work  only  a  year  and  would  resume 
the  work,  with  reenforcements  as  he  hoped,  in  the  fall 
of  1843.  If  he  started  in  the  spring  of  1843,  he  could 
not  get  to  work  on  the  new  basis  before  the  fall  of  1844. 
Anyone  who  has  studied  Dr.  Whitman's  character  knows 
that  he  was  of  the  Eoosevelt  type — quick  to  reach  a  de 
cision,  full  of  courage,  and  energetic  in  action.  With  this 
situation  before  us,  read  this  sentence  in  Mrs.  Whitman's 
letter  to  her  parents,  written  September  30,  1842,  and 
sent  by  her  husband:  "He  wishes  to  cross  the  mountains 
during  this  month,  I  mean  October,  and  to  reach  Saint 
Louis  about  the  first  of  December."17  Here  is  Dr.  Whit 
man's  program  stated  by  his  wife  four  days  before  he 
started.  Had  they  followed  the  northern  trail,  as  they 

"  Ibid.,  p.  98,  note. 

249 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

expected  to  do  when  they  started,  and  rested  on  Sundays, 
they  had  forty  days  of  travel  to  December  1.  By  exchang 
ing  horses  at  two  or  three  of  the  posts  and  averaging  forty 
miles  a  day  they  could  have  reached  Saint  Louis  by  Decem 
ber  1,  which  was  the  time  fixed  in  Dr.  Whitman's  program, 
as  stated  by  Mrs.  Whitman.  In  view  of  these  considera 
tions  Mrs.  Whitman's  statement  of  his  plans  written  only 
four  days  before  he  started  answers  the  question  as  to  why 
Dr.  Whitman  started  East  as  late  as  October.  It  was  the 
report  of  James  Grant,  the  agent  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  at  Fort  Hall,  that  on  account  of  the  bitter  war 
between  the  Indians  the  northern  route  was  impossible 
which  led  Whitman  to  choose  the  southern  route  diago 
nally  through  the  mountains  instead  of  crossing  them  at 
South  Pass.  This  change  of  route,  the  lack  of  knowledge 
of  the  new  route,  together  with  the  exceptionally  severe 
winter,  delayed  their  arrival  at  Westport,  Missouri,  until 
February,  1843.18  Here,  then,  is  the  clear  and  decisive 
reason  why  Dr.  Whitman  started  East  October  3,  1842, 
instead  of  waiting  until  the  spring  of  1843. 

That  there  was  another  reason  for  Dr.  Whitman's  haste 
in  his  desire  to  reach  Washington  before  the  adjournment 
of  Congress  March  3,  1843,  is  a  matter  of  controversy. 
The  statement  originally  made  by  Dr.  Barrows  that  Dr. 
Whitman  reached  Washington  before  the  adjournment  of 
Congress  on  March  3  is  no  longer  maintained  by  Eells  in 
his  latest  volume,  Marcus  Whitman  (1909).  We  think  it 
would  be  to  the  advantage  of  the  claim  that  Dr.  Whitman 
exercised  a  decisive  influence  upon  President  Tyler  if  we 
could  place  his  visit  to  Washington  as  late  as  May,  1843, 

"Bourne,  Essays  in  Historical  Criticism,  p.  86. 

250 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

as  we  shall  show  a  little  later.  But  let  us  first  analyze  the 
claim  still  maintained  by  Dr.  Myron  Eells  in  his  volume 
on  Dr.  Whitman  that  the  doctor  was  instrumental  in 
changing  the  plan  of  Webster  and  President  Tyler  in 
regard  to  the  boundary  line  between  the  United  States 
and  Canada. 

Dr.  Eells,  in  the  latest,  most  elaborate,  and  ablest  de 
fense  of  the  view  that  Dr.  Whitman  secured  to  the  United 
States  at  least  the  territory  lying  between  the  Columbia 
River  and  the  49th  parallel,  says :  "Soon  after  the  Ashbur- 
ton  treaty  was  signed  in  August,  1842,  Lord  Aberdeen 
had,  through  H.  S.  Fox,  the  British  minister  at  Wash 
ington,  consulted  with  Secretary  Webster  about  resuming 
negotiations  on  the  Oregon  question.  This  was  October 
18,  1842.  On  November  25,  following,  Mr.  Webster  had 
replied,  saying  that  President  Tyler  concurred  in  the 
suggestion  and  would  make  a  communication  to  our  minis 
ter  in  England  at  no  distant  day.  The  next  letter  extant, 
however,  is  dated  nearly  a  year  later — October  9,  1843. 
Then  Hon.  A.  P.  Upshur,  who  had  succeeded  Mr.  Webster 
as  secretary  of  state,  wrote  Edward  Everett,  our  minister 
in  London  saying:  'The  offer  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel 
of  latitude,  although  it  has  been  once  rejected,  may  be 
again  tendered,  together  with  the  right  of  navigating  the 
Columbia  River  upon  equitable  terms:  beyond  this,  the 
President  is  not  prepared  to  go/  Why  was  this  delay  of 
nearly  a  year?  It  certainly  gave  time  for  the  President 
to  know  practically  that  the  immigration  which  Dr.  Whit 
man  had  promised  to  lead  through  was  a  large  one,  and 
so  that  Oregon  could  be  peopled  overland  from  the  United 
States.  If  this  is  not  so,  can  anyone  answer  the  question, 
Why,  when  the  President  had  said  he  would  make  the 

251 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

Oregon  question  the  subject  of  immediate  attention,  and 
promised  that  at  no  distant  day,  a  communication  would 
be  sent  on  the  subject,  none  is  now  on  record  for  nearly 
a  whole  year?"19  Hence  Dr.  Eells  says  in  the  conclusion 
of  his  pamphlet:  "Just  how  much  of  Oregon  was  saved, 
the  writer  has  never  decided,  but  for  nearly  twenty  years 
has  stated,  'The  whole  or  a  part  of  it/  The  papers  found 
in  regard  to  the  trade  for  California  and  Webster's  state 
ment  point  to  that  part  north  of  the  Columbia  River.  But 
the  statement  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  Dr.  Whitman's  letters, 
and  the  ideas  of  Judge  Strong  and  some  other  western 
statesmen  point  to  all  of  the  then  Oregon."20 

Why  do  we  not  accept  Dr.  Eells's  view?  Simply  be 
cause  Dr.  Eells  is  entirely  mistaken  as  to  the  facts.  Web 
ster,  indeed,  promised  the  British  minister  on  November 
25  that  the  President  would  make  a  communication  to  our 
minister  in  London  at  no  distant  date.  Dr.  Eells  says, 
"The  next  letter  extant,  however,  is  dated  nearly  a  year 
later,  October  9,  1843."  The  facts  show  that  so  far  from 
delaying  a  year  through  Dr.  Whitman's  influence  or  any 
other  influence,  on  November  28,  1842 — only  three  days 
after  Mr.  Webster  promised  that  the  President  would  com 
municate  with  our  minister  in  London — Mr.  Webster  sent 
Mr.  Everett  the  promised  communication  upon  the  subject 
of  Oregon.21  This  indisputable  letter  of  Mr.  Webster's 
entirely  disposes  of  Dr.  Eells's  hypothesis  that  after  Web 
ster  promised  immediate  attention  and  a  communication 
at  no  distant  date,  the  President  was  induced  by  Dr. 

"Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  197. 

10  Eells,  A  Reply  to  Professor  Bourne's  "The  Whitman 
Legend,"  pp.  119,  120. 

31  Webster,  Private  Correspondence,  vol.  ii,  pp.  153-154. 

252 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

Whitman  to  delay  the  reply  for  nearly  a  whole  year  in 
order  to  learn  before  answering  of  the  success  or  failure 
of  Dr.  Whitman's  effort  to  lead  emigrants  to  Oregon. 

Again  on  January  1,  1843,  Webster  approached  General 
Almonte,  the  Mexican  minister  to  the  United  States,  on 
a  tripartite  solution  of  the  boundary  line  between  Great 
Britain,  Mexico,  and  the  United  States.22  Mr.  Webster 
approached  General  Almonte  a  second  time  about  April  1, 
urging  his  acceptance  for  Mexico  of  this  solution  of  the 
boundary  lines  between  the  three  governments.23  Dr.  Eells 
no  longer  insists  upon  the  statement  of  Barrows  that  Dr. 
Whitman  reached  Washington  before  Congress  adjourned 
March  3,  1843,  but  simply  that  he  reached  Washington 
some  time  during  March.  This  is  also  the  view  of  Bourne ; 
but  in  this  case  the  fact  that  Webster  is  still  pushing  for 
the  settlement  the  first  days  in  April  and  along  compro 
mise  lines  which  yielded  to  Great  Britain  all  north  and 
west  of  the  Columbia  Eiver  shows  that  President  Tyler 
is  not  in  the  least  observing  any  supposed  promise  made 
to  Dr.  Whitman  in  March  to  postpone  further  considera 
tion  of  the  question  until  Whitman  can  lead  a  great 
migration  across  the  plains  and  mountains  and  demon 
strate  the  practicability  of  the  wagon  road  to  the  Columbia. 
Mr.  Webster  resigns  his  position  as  secretary  of  state  on 
May  8,  1843,  and  the  President  asks  Attorney-General 
Legare  to  assume  the  portfolio  until  he  can  select  another 
secretary  of  state.  But  President  Tyler  does  not  even  wait 
until  he  can  select  a  successor  to  Webster,  but  on  May  16, 
1843,  he  asks  Legare  to  resume  negotiations  over  the  Ore- 

22  Adams,  Memoirs,  vol.  xi,  p.  340   (see  also  Tyler,  Letters 
and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  vol.  ii,  pp.  260,  261). 
28  Adams,  Memoirs,  vol.  xi,  pp.  351-355. 

253 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

gon  boundary.24  It  is  not  only  the  entire  absence  in  all 
the  printed  documents  of  1843,  of  any  reference  to  Dr. 
Whitman's  visit,  the  entire  absence  of  a  line  of  evidence 
that  President  Tyler  made  any  promise  to  Dr.  Whitman 
to  postpone  negotiations  until  he  could  learn  of  the  out 
come  of  Whitman's  proposal,  but  it  is  the  positive,  written, 
contemporary  evidence  that  the  government  was  carrying 
on  negotiations  over  the  Oregon  boundary,  and  that  Tyler 
and  Webster  after  the  time  assigned  by  all  of  Whitman's 
friends  for  his  visit  to  Washington  were  trying  to  secure 
a  compromise  in  direct  conflict  with  Whitman's  views  that 
discredits  the  contention  of  Barrows,  Nixon,  Gray,  Mowry, 
and  Eells,  of  Whitman's  influence  over  the  Tyler  adminis 
tration  in  the  spring  of  1843. 

"Bourne,  Essays  in  Historical  Criticism,  p.  83,  note   (see 
also  Tyler,  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  vol.  iii,  p.  111). 


254 


CHAPTEE  XV 

MAECUS  WHITMAN 
(CONCLUDED) 

WHAT  service  did  Dr.  Whitman  render  to  the  govern 
ment  and  the  people  of  the  United  States  by  his  trip  to 
the  East  in  the  winter  of  1842-43? 

,  If  we  turn  from  speculation  to  Whitman's  correspond 
ence,  we  get  authoritative  statements  from  his  own  pen  as 
to  the  services  he  rendered  by  his  trip : 

1.  In  a  letter  to  the  American  Board  dated  Waiilatpu, 
November  1,  1843,  he  says,  "If  I  never  do  more  than  to 
have  been  one  of  the  first  to  take  white  women  across  the 
mountains  and  prevent  the  disorder  and  inaction  which 
would  have  occurred  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  present 
emigration,  and  establishing  the  first  wagon  road  across 
the  border  to  the  Columbia  Eiver,  I  am  satisfied."1     Dr. 
Whitman  thus  sums  up  his  services  to  the  country  in 
three  items,  neither  of  which  has  the  slightest  connection 
with  the  great  service  assigned  to  him  by  Barrows,  Eells, 
and  others. 

2.  In  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  James  M.  Porter,  secretary 
of  war,  received  at  the  War  Department  June  22,  1844, 
Dr.  Whitman  narrates  the  complete  success  of  his  trip 
West  and  dwells  upon  his  service  in  piloting  the  emigrants 


bourne,  Essays  in  Historical  Criticism,  p.  91. 

255 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

to  Oregon,  incloses  a  bill  for  Secretary  Porter  to  put  before 
Congress,  but  makes  no  reference  whatever  to  any  agree 
ment  with  the  President  and  the  Cabinet  to  the  effect 
that  the  President  was  to  delay  signing  a  treaty  relating 
to  the  Oregon  boundary  until  Dr.  Whitman  could  report 
whether  or  not  he  had  discovered  a  wagon  road  to  Oregon. 
This  testimony  is  negative,  but  as  Porter  was  a  member 
of  the  Cabinet,  failure  to  refer  to  an  agreement  with  the 
Cabinet  which  would  have  been  well  known  to  them  both 
is  practically  decisive  against  the  existence  of  any  such 
agreement.2 

3.  In  a  letter  to  the  Eev.  L.  P.  Judson,  written  Novem 
ber  5,  1846,  a  trifle  over  three  years  after  Whitman  re 
turned  to  Oregon,3  Dr.  Whitman  says:  "I  had  adopted 
Oregon  as  my  country,  as  well  as  the  Indians  for  my  field 
of  labor,  so  that  I  must  superintend  the  emigration  of 
that  year  [1843],  which  was  to  lay  the  foundation  for 
the  speedy  settlement  of  the  country  if  prosperously  con 
ducted  and  safely  carried  through;  but  if  it  failed  and 
became  disastrous,  the  reflex  influence  would  be  to  dis 
courage  for  a  long  time  any  further  attempt  to  settle  the 
country  across  the  mountains,  which  would  be  to  see  it 
abandoned  altogether.  ...  I  have  returned  to  my  field 
of  labor,  and  on  my  return  brought  a  large  immigration 
of  about  a  thousand  individuals  safely  through  the  long, 
and  the  last  part  of  it  an  untried,  route  to  the  western 
shores  of  the  continent.  ...  It  is  quite  important  that 
such  a  country  as  Oregon  should  not  on  one  hand  fall 
into  the  exclusive  hands  of  the  Jesuits,  nor  on  the  other 

2Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  pp.  336-343. 
8  See   Transactions   Oregon   Pioneer  Associations,   1893,   p. 
200. 

256 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

under  the  English  government."4  Here  is  the  statement 
made  by  Dr.  Whitman  himself  of  the  services  which  he 
rendered  the  government  in  1843.  In  this  statement  he 
lays  the  whole  emphasis  upon  his  guidance  of  the  emi 
grants  of  1843  to  Oregon;  he  does  not  mention  any  agree 
ment  with  the  President  to  be  guided  in  signing  or  not 
signing  some  supposed  treaty  by  the  success  or  failure 
of  this  expedition. 

4.  If  Dr.  Whitman  had  a  secret  agreement  with  our 
government  affecting  international  affairs,  prudence  would 
have  prevented  the  publication  of  the  fact  until  after  the 
treaty  was  signed,  though  in  this  case  he  could  safely  have 
mentioned  the  fact  to  his  Board  and  especially  to  Secre 
tary  Porter,  who  was  supposed  to  be  a  partner  to  the  agree 
ment.  But  in  Dr.  Whitman's  letter  of  April  1,  1847,  to 
the  American  Board,  which  reveals  his  knowledge  that 
the  treaty  had  been  signed  and  Oregon  secured  to  the 
United  States,  he  again  fails  to  refer  to  any  agreement 
with  President  Tyler.  In  this  letter,  in  which  Dr.  Whit 
man  tried  to  justify  to  the  Board  his  trip  East,  it  seems 
to  us  incredible,  had  he  been  able  to  secure  any  agreement 
with  the  President  and  the  Cabinet  by  which  they  made 
a  treaty  relating  to  Oregon  dependent  on  his  success  in 
leading  a  band  of  emigrants  across  the  mountains,  and 
had  he,  as  he  claims  in  the  letter,  successfully  led  such  a 
band  to  Oregon,  that  he  should  have  failed  to  mention 
this  greatest  single  service  any  citizen  of  Oregon  could 
have  rendered  the  United  States.  But  the  letter  of  April 
1,  1847,  simply  reiterates  and  emphasizes  the  fact  that  his 
service  consisted  in  guiding  safely  to  Oregon  the  emigra- 

4  Quoted  by  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  pp.  182-183. 

257 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

tion  of  1843.  It  says:  "I  often  reflect  on  the  fact  that 
you  told  me  you  were  sorry  I  came  East.  It  did  not  then, 
nor  has  it  since,  altered  my  opinion  in  the  matter.  Ameri 
can  interests,  acquired  in  the  country,  which  the  success 
of  the  immigration  of  1843  alone  did  and  could  have 
secured,  have  become  the  foundation  of  the  late  treaty 
between  England  and  the  United  States  in  regard  to 
Oregon,  for  it  may  be  easily  seen  what  would  have  become 
of  American  interests  had  the  immigration  of  1843  been 
as  disastrous  as  have  been  the  two  attempts  in  1845  and 
1846  to  alter  the  route  then  followed.  The  disaster  was 
great  again  last  year  to  those  who  left  the  track  which  I 
made  for  them  in  1843,  as  it  has  been  on  every  attempt 
to  improve  it,  not  that  it  cannot  be  improved,  but  it 
demonstrates  what  I  did  in  making  my  way  to  the  States 
in  the  winter  of  1842-43,  after  the  third  of  October.  .  .  . 
Anyone  can  see  that  American  interests  as  now  acquired 
have  had  more  to  do  in  securing  the  treaty  than  our 
original  rights.  From  1835  till  now  it  has  been  apparent 
that  there  was  a  choice  of  only  two  things:  (1)  The  in 
crease  of  British  interests  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
rights  in  the  country,  or  (2)  the  establishment  of  Ameri 
can  interests  by  citizens."5  This  elaborate  defense  of  his 
action  makes  no  reference  to  any  agreement  with  Tyler 
and  his  Cabinet,  but  holds  that  the  treaty  of  Polk  in  1846 
securing  the  Puget  Sound  region  was  due  to  his  service 
in  guiding  the  emigrants  to  Oregon  in  1843. 

5.  A  final  letter  by  Dr.  Whitman  defending  his  return 
to  the  States  is  addressed  to  the  American  Board  and  is 
dated  October  18,  1847,  about  six  weeks  before  his  death. 

8  Quoted  by  Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  183. 

258 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

In  it  he  makes  no  reference  to  any  agreement  with  Presi 
dent  Tyler.  He  says:  "Two  things,  and  it  is  true  those 
which  were  the  most  important,  were  accomplished  by 
my  return  to  the  States.  By  means  of  the  establishment 
of  the  wagon  road,  which  is  due  to  that  effort  alone,  the 
emigration  was  secured  and  saved  from  disaster  in  the 
fall  of  1843.  Upon  that  event  the  present  acquired  rights 
of  the  United  States  by  her  citizens  hung.  And  not  less 
certain  is  it  that  upon  the  results  of  emigration  to  this 
country,  the  present  existence  of  this  Mission  and  of 
Protestanism  hung  also."6  In  this  letter  Whitman  men 
tions  the  two  most  important  services  accomplished  by 
his  return  to  the  States:  the  establishment  of  the  wagon 
road  and  the  preservation  of  the  emigrants  of  1843  from 
disaster.  Upon  these  two  services  he  claims  hung  two 
important  results:  the  securing  of  the  country  to  the 
United  States  and  the  preservation  of  the  American  Board 
Mission  and  of  Protestantism  upon  the  Pacific  Coast. 
We  thus  have  clear,  straightforward  statements  by  Dr. 
Whitman  in  five  letters  dating  from  a  few  weeks  after  his 
return  to  Oregon  to  within  six  weeks  of  his  death  showing 
what  he  regarded  as  his  great  service  to  the  United  States 
government  and  people.  Dr.  Whitman's  statements  in 
these  five  letters  do  not  furnish  the  slightest  support  to 
Dr.  Eells's  view  that  Dr.  Whitman  had  an  agreement  with 
President  Tyler  and  the  Cabinet  by  which  Tyler  was  not 
to  sign  a  treaty  sacrificing  any  portion  of  Oregon  until 
he  could  hear  of  the  success  or  failure  of  Dr.  Whitman's 
effort  to  guide  a  party  to  Oregon.  The  absence  of  all 
testimony  by  Whitman  in  the  five  statements  of  his  serv- 

•Eells,  Marcus  Whitman,  p.  231. 

259 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

ices  as  to  this  agreement  with  the  President  is  to  us  con 
clusive  evidence  that  no  such  agreement  existed.  Dr. 
Whitman's  services  were  considerable;  they  consisted  in 
the  encouragement,  warning,  medical  aid,  help,  and  guid 
ance  furnished  to  the  largest  body  of  emigrants  which  up 
to  that  time  ever  started  for  Oregon,  and  they  consisted 
further  in  a  clearer  demonstration  than  ever  before  that 
a  national  highway  for  wagons  was  feasible  from  Saint 
Louis  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  Here,  then,  in  an  authoritative 
form  is  Dr.  Whitman's  definition  of  his  services. 

We  must  not  press  even  these  two  claims  too  far.  Dr. 
Whitman  did  not  create  the  emigration  of  1843.  Ban- 
croft  says:  "The  discussions  in  Congress  and  the  popu 
larity  of  Linn's  bill,  with  the  missionary  efforts  herein 
narrated,  resulted  in  a  pronounced  emigration  movement. 
It  began  in  1842,  when  a  hundred  persons  followed 
Elijah  White  westward."7  Bancroft  connects  Jason  Lee, 
not  Dr.  Whitman,  with  the  Linn  bill  and  the  Congressional 
documents  whose  circulation  started  the  emigration  of 
1843.  Dr.  Eells  thinks  that  Dr.  Whitman  may  have  in 
duced  one  third  or  two  fifths  of  the  emigrants  of  1843 
to  start  to  Oregon.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  Dr.  Whitman 
reached  Saint  Louis  only  three  months  before  the  emi 
grants  started  on  their  journey,  and  owing  to  the  slowness 
with  which  any  message  from  him  could  have  reached 
these  emigrants  scattered  through  four  or  five  States,  and 
owing  to  the  slowness  with  which  farmers  were  able  to 
sell  their  land,  collect  their  money,  and  make  arrange 
ments  for  the  journey,  Bancroft's  view  that  the  emigra 
tion  of  1843  was  largely  the  result  of  the  earlier  agitation 

'Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  391. 

260 


MAECUS  WHITMAN 

is  far  better  founded  than  Dr.  Eells's  view.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  entirely  reasonable  that  some  hesitating  families  were 
encouraged  to  enter  upon  the  journey  by  hearing  of  Whit 
man's  arrival  and  of  his  proposal  to  guide  a  band  of  emi 
grants  back  to  Oregon  in  the  spring  of  1843. 

Again,  we  must  make  Dr.  Whitman's  claim  to  the  guid 
ance  of  the  company  on  the  long  journey  a  modest  one. 
Bancroft  shows  that  on  May  20,  1843,  twelve  miles 
west  of  Independence,  Missouri,  the  emigrant  body  adopted 
the  usual  rules  for  parties  crossing  the  plains  and  elected 
Peter  H.  Burnett  captain,  and  J.  W.  Nesmith  orderly 
sergeant,  and  nine  others  as  councilmen  to  assist  in  settling 
questions,  and  employed  Captain  John  Gantt,  a  former 
army  officer,  now  a  "mountain  man,"  as  official  guide  to 
Fort  Hall.8  Clearly,  Captain  Gantt,  not  Dr.  Whitman, 
was  the  guide  from  Independence  to  Fort  Hall.  As  the 
company  embraced  men  who  later  became  leaders  of  the 
State,  Burnett  becoming  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Oregon  and  later  governor  of  California,  and  Nesmith 
becoming  a  United  States  senator  from  Oregon,  and  Jesse 
Applegate,  who  later  led  one  division  of  the  emigrant  band, 
becoming  a  prominent  citizen  of  Oregon,  it  is  very  prob 
able  that  these  men  under  the  guidance  of  Captain  Gantt, 
who  had  frequently  made  the  journey,  would  have  reached 
Fort  Hall  in  safety  had  not  Dr.  Whitman  been  with 
them.  Captain  Burnett  resigned  at  the  end  of  eight  days 
because  the  large  company  failed  to  observe  his  regula 
tions.  Bancroft  states  that  the  resignation  evidently  pro 
duced  an  effect  upon  the  company,  because  William  Martin, 
who  was  chosen  in  Captain  Burnett's  place,  held  the  com- 

8  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  395. 

261 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

mand  for  the  remainder  of  the  journey.  But  it  is  signifi 
cant  that  after  Burnett  resigned,  William  Martin,  not 
Dr.  Whitman,  was  elected  captain.  It  shows  that  the 
company  was  not  relying  upon  Dr.  Whitman  for  leader 
ship.  The  size  of  this  body  of  emigrants  making  any 
Indian  attack  extremely  hazardous  for  the  Indians,  and 
the  fact  that  Captain  Bennett  Eiley  with  his  artillery 
had  severely  chastised  the  Indians  a  few  years  before  and 
frightened  with  his  cannon  even  more  than  he  had  hurt 
them,  preserved  the  company  from  serious  danger  of  In 
dian  attacks  during  the  journey. 

Remeau,  one  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  guides, 
met  the  band  of  emigrants  at  Fort  Hall,  where  Captain 
Gantt's  term  of  service  expired,  and  offered  his  services 
for  the  remainder  of  the  journey.  Dr.  Whitman  expressed 
the  judgment  that  with  his  Cayuse  Indians  who  had  just 
come  over  the  trail  and  met  him  at  the  Fort,  and  with 
his  own  recollections  of  the  trail  which  he  had  traversed 
the  previous  October,  he  could  guide  them  without  charge 
the  rest  of  the  way  in  safety;  hence  the  councilmen  did 
not  think  it  necessary  for  the  party  to  take  the  extra 
expense  of  Remeau  as  a  guide.  Remeau  knew  the  trail 
far  better  than  did  Dr.  Whitman;  and  he  showed  his  fine 
character  by  sitting  down  with  Dr.  Whitman,  after  the 
emigrants  decided  not  to  employ  him,  and  working  out 
the  entire  course  from  Fort  Hall  to  Dr.  Whitman's  home; 
he  indicated  each  camping  place,  the  distance  between 
camps  and  each  difficult  portion  of  the  road.  With  Dr. 
Whitman's  recollection  of  the  route  from  his  journey  of 
the  preceding  October,  and  with  Remeau's  sketch  of  the 
route,  Dr.  Whitman  safely  guided  the  emigrants  from 
Fort  Hall  as  far  as  Grande  Ronde  River,  that  is,  about 

262 


MAKCUS  WHITMAN 

three  hundred  miles.  At  this  station  other  Indians  from 
Spalding's  station  met  him  with  a  letter  informing  him 
of  the  illness  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spalding;  and  from  Grande 
Ronde  Dr.  Whitman  hurried  on,  and  the  company  was 
guided  safely  by  Sticcas,  a  converted  Indian  chief  who  had 
the  full  confidence  of  Dr.  Whitman.  With  Remeau — one 
of  the  best  guides  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company — at 
Fort  Hall  to  guide  them,  it  is  practically  certain  that  the 
company  would  have  come  through  safely  had  not  Dr. 
Whitman  been  with  them.  Nevertheless,  it  was  with  Dr. 
Whitman's  presence,  advice,  and  encouragement  all  the 
way,  and  his  guidance  from  Fort  Hall  to  Grande  Ronde 
that  the  company  safely  made  the  journey.  They  had 
started  a  little  late  and  Dr.  Whitman's  unceasing  exhorta 
tion  was,  "Travel,  travel,  travel."9  The  snow  began  to 
fall  upon  the  mountains  by  the  time  they  reached  the 
Grande  Ronde  Valley;  and  the  missing  of  the  trail  at  any 
part  of  the  journey,  or  even  delay  in  following  the  trail, 
would  probably  have  been  attended  with  serious  conse 
quences.  It  is  easy  to  say  and  it  is  probably  correct  that 
the  Federalist  would  have  been  written  had  Madison  not 
been  able  to  contribute  a  single  article,  but  such  a  con 
sideration  will  not  rob  Madison  of  his  share  of  the  fame 
for  that  remarkable  interpretation  of  our  constitution.  So, 
while  it  is  probable  that  this  company  of  strong  Ameri 
cans,  under  such  leaders  as  Burnett  and  Nesmith  and  the 
regular  guides,  would  have  reached  their  destination  in 
safety,  we  ought  not  to  rob  Dr.  Whitman  of  his  share  in 
encouraging  and  inspiring  the  eight  hundred  emigrants 
in  making  the  remarkable  journey  of  1843. 

•Jesse  Applegate,  A  Day  with   the  Cow  Column,  quoted 
by  Clarke,  Pioneer  Days  of  Oregon  History,  vol.  ii,  p.  55. 

263 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

We  think  that  Dr.  Whitman  also  deserves  credit  for 
inducing  the  emigrants  to  take  their  wagons  to  Oregon. 
At  this  point  he  claimed  too  much  for  himself.  In  the 
spring  of  1830  wagons  were  first  used  instead  of  pack 
animals  on  the  northern  route.  They  had  been  used  long 
before  that  date  on  the  Santa  Fe  trail.  These  northern 
wagons  followed  what  was  known  as  the  Oregon  trail  and 
went  as  far  as  Wind  River,  Wyoming,  before  Dr.  Whitman 
made  his  first  journey.10  Wagons  also  had  been  taken 
from  Wind  River  on  to  Fort  Hall,  Idaho.  Dr.  Whitman 
was  the  first  man  to  take  a  wagon  from  Fort  Hall  on  to 
Fort  Boise,  Idaho.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
in  1840  three  Americans,  Robert  Newell,  Joseph  L.  Meek, 
and  one  other  man,  had  taken  three  wagons  belonging  to 
Newell  all  the  way  from  Saint  Louis  to  Walla  Walla,  a 
few  miles  beyond  Dr.  Whitman's  home  at  Waiilatpu.  This 
was  three  years  before  Dr.  Whitman  induced  the  emigrants 
to  take  their  wagons  on  to  Waiilatpu.  So  far  from  Dr. 
Whitman  being  the  first  man  to  take  a  wagon  across  the 
continent,  he  was  the  first  man  to  take  a  wagon  from 
Fort  Hall  to  Fort  Boise — less  than  a  tenth  of  the  distance 
from  Saint  Louis  to  the  Pacific,  and  by  no  means  the 
worst  part  of  the  journey.  Moreover,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company's  guide,  Remeau,  joined  Dr.  Whitman  in  advis 
ing  the  emigrants  to  take  their  wagons  with  them.  Again, 
in  the  company  was  William  Fowler,  who  had  made  the 
journey  before  and  who,  according  to  Jesse  Applegate, 
had  a  better  knowledge  of  what  ox-teams  could  do  with 
wagons  than  had  Dr.  Whitman.11  Worse  still,  on  reach 
ing  Waiilatpu,  Dr.  Whitman  advised  the  company  to  leave 

10  Leonard,  Narrative,  p.  27. 

11  Bancroft,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  i,  p.  399. 

264 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

their  wagons  and  cattle  in  the  Walla  Walla  Valley  for  the 
winter  and  that  a  few  men  return  and  take  them  down  in 
the  spring.  Dr.  Whitman  told  them  that  the  Indians 
had  burned  off  the  grass  and  that  the  cattle  would  perish 
if  they  attempted  to  take  them  through  that  autumn.  But 
Dr.  Whitman's  advice  proved  harmful  and  almost  danger 
ous.  Part  of  the  emigrants  left  their  cattle,  and  one  or 
two  groups  of  them  were  delayed  on  the  journey  and 
nearly  perished  from  hunger12 — a  condition  which  would 
have  been  avoided  had  they  taken  their  cattle  with  them. 
On  the  other  hand,  those  who  took  their  cattle,  found 
abundance  of  grass.13  But  the  fact  remains  that  it  was 
Dr.  Whitman's  advice  and  encouragement  which  more 
than  any  other  single  influence  led  these  eight  hundred 
emigrants  to  take  their  wagons  from  Fort  Hall  to  Waii- 
latpu. 

In  addition  to  these  two  services,  can  Dr.  Whitman 
be  credited  with  any  further  service  to  the  government? 
Dr.  Whitman's  letter  addressed  to  the  Hon.  James  M. 
Porter,  the  secretary  of  war,  received  at  the  War  Depart 
ment  June  22,  1844,  and  now  on  file  there,  opens  with 
the  sentence,  "In  compliance  with  the  request  you  did  me 
the  honor  to  make  last  winter  while  at  Washington,  I 
herewith  transmit  the  synopsis  of  a  bill,  ..."  etc.  This 
proves  conclusively  that  Dr.  Whitman  visited  Washing 
ton.  It  is  certain  that  this  visit  did  not  affect  the  Ash- 
burton  treaty,  which  was  signed  before  he  left  Waiilatpu. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  in  Chapter  VI,  on  "The 
*United  States  Government,"  that  President  Tyler  from 
the  time  of  Lord  Ashburton's  visit  to  Washington  in  1842 

12  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  410. 
18  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  p.  405. 

265 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

down  to  May  16,  1843,  was  busy  carrying  through  a  dis 
graceful  plot  by  which  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
were  to  rob  Mexico  of  the  northern  portion  of  her  territory. 
If,  therefore,  Whitman's  visit  to  Washington  had  taken 
place  during  the  latter  half  of  May  or  any  time  before 
October  9,  1843,  the  date  of  Secretary  Upshur's  letter  to 
our  minister  in  London  stating  that  the  President  would 
not  yield  any  territory  below  the  49th  parallel,  we  might 
possibly  attribute  the  final  abandonment  of  the  compro 
mise  plans  to  Whitman's  influence  over  Tyler.  But  Perrin 
B.  Whitman  says  that  his  uncle,  Marcus  Whitman,  bade 
goodby  to  his  mother  and  left  Middlesex,  New  York,  for 
Oregon  April  20,  1843.  Besides,  Dr.  Whitman,  in  his 
letter  to  the  secretary  of  war,  received  at  the  War  Depart 
ment  June  22,  1844,  speaks  of  his  visit  to  the  secretary 
"last  winter."  All  the  facts  constrain  us  to  put  this  visit 
in  March.  It  is  simply  impossible,  therefore,  to  make 
Dr.  Whitman's  visit  the  decisive  factor  in  determining 
Tyler's  change  of  policy,  since  the  efforts  to  compromise 
by  the  surrender  of  the  territory  to  Great  Britain  con 
tinued  for  two  months  after  Whitman's  visit.  Moreover, 
Dunning  and  Garrison  both  assure  us  that  Tyler's  change 
of  policy  was  due  to  information  furnished  him  in  the 
summer  of  1843  by  a  secret  agent  whom  he  had  sent  to 
Great  Britain  to  the  effect  that  Great  Britain  was  attempt 
ing  by  the  offer  of  a  liberal  loan  to  induce  Texas  to  abolish 
slavery;  and  that  it  was  Tyler's  anger  over  the  supposed 
meddling  of  Great  Britain  with  slavery  in  Texas  which 
led  to  his  abandonment  of  compromise  in  the  letter  of 
October  and  the  message  of  December,  1843. 

We  have  tried  to  state  clearly  and  fairly  all  the  facts 
on  both  sides,  and  our  readers  can  form  their  own  judg- 

266 


MARCUS  WHITMAN 

ment.  Our  own  conviction  is  as  follows:  First,  Dr.  Whit 
man  is  entitled  to  great  credit  for  inspiring,  encouraging, 
helping  to  guide,  and  furnishing  medical  aid  to  the  great 
company  of  over  eight  hundred  emigrants  who  went  to 
Oregon  in  1843;  second,  to  Dr.  Whitman  more  than  to 
any  other  man  belongs  the  credit  of  inducing  the  eight 
hundred  emigrants  to  take  their  wagons  to  Oregon.  When 
the  eight  hundred  settlers  wrote  back  to  friends  in  all 
parts  of  the  United  States  that  they  had  taken  their 
wagons  through,  the  government  and  the  people  knew  that 
a  wagon  road  from  the  Mississippi  to  Oregon  was  prac 
ticable;  third,  Dr.  Whitman's  visit  to  Washington  was  not 
the  decisive  influence  which  led  President  Tyler  to  change 
his  policy,  and  turned  that  compromiser  into  a  braggart 
and  a  bluffer;  it  would  not  add  to  Dr.  Whitman's  fame 
to  even  share  in  producing  this  political  tergiversation. 
But  it  is  correct  to  credit  the  emigration  to  Oregon  in 
1843  with  considerable  influence  in  the  interjection  of 
the  Oregon  issue  into  the  campaign  of  1844,  and  the 
carrying  of  the  election  at  least  partly  upon  that  issue. 
Fourth,  and  above  all,  it  must  be  said  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Whitman,  that  their  power  of  initiative  made  them  leaders 
among  their  Indian  wards;  that  in  addition  to  teaching 
the  Indians  by  precept  and  example  the  arts  of  farming, 
housekeeping,  milling,  etc.,  their  kindness  of  heart  turned 
their  station  into  a  school,  a  hospital,  and  an  orphanage. 
Finally,  it  must  be  added  that  the  martyrdom  at  Waiilatpu 
November  29,  1847,  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman  gave  the 
last,  full  proof  of  their  devotion  to  their  country  and  their 
church,  to  the  Indians  whom  they  loved,  and  the  Master 
whom  they  followed,  and  placed  their  names  high  on  the 
roll  of  Christendom. 

267 


CHAPTER  XVI 
RESUME 

OUR  aim  throughout  the  book  has  been  to  portray  the 
actions  which  determined  how  the  territory  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  lying  between  Russia  on  the  north  and 
Mexico  on  the  south,  was  divided  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain.  We  have  tried  to  point  out  the 
work  of  the  leading  factors  in  determining  that  division. 
For  the  sake  of  a  deeper  and  clearer  general  impression, 
let  us  now  summarize  our  work. 

1.     THE  AMERICAN  INDIANS 

One  afternoon  in  the  winter  of  1831-32  three  Nez 
Perces  and  one  Flathead  Indian  appeared  upon  the  streets 
of  Saint  Louis  with  a  request  which  no  white  men  had 
ever  heard  before.  They  came,  they  said,  from  the  land 
of  the  setting  sun.  They  had  heard  of  the  white  man's 
God.  They  wanted  the  white  man's  Book  of  Heaven. 

General  William  Clark,  then  in  command  of  the  mili 
tary  post  of  Saint  Louis,  had  met  similar  tribes  in  his 
famous  journey  to  the  Columbia  River  with  Captain  Meri- 
wether  Lewis  in  1804-06.  A  kind-hearted  Christian  man, 
he  tried  to  tell  the  Indians  the  doctrines  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  necessary  to  salvation;  but  he  did  not 
deem  it  wise  to  give  them  the  Bible. 

268 


RESUME 

Two  of  the  four  Indians  died  from  the  hardships  of  the 
journey  and  the  other  two,  homesick  and  disappointed, 
prepared  to  return.  General  Clark  made  them  a  ban 
quet  and  bade  them  Godspeed.  Hee-oh-ks-te-kin,  a  Nez 
Perce,  replied  in  a  speech,  which  made  a  deep  impression. 
The  genuineness  of  the  published  speech  has  been  a  subject 
of  much  controversy.  We  have  no  data  which  contradict 
Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding's  claim  that  the  speech  is  genuine. 
But  the  late  date  of  its  publication — 1865 — together  with 
the  many  inaccuracies  in  Mr.  Spalding's  narrative  of  the 
Whitman  massacre,  throw  doubt  upon  this  claim.  Upon 
the  other  side  the  brevity  and  style  of  the  speech  sug 
gest  its  Indian  origin.  If  genuine  it  is  the  highest  example 
of  Indian  oratory,  as  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  speech  is  the 
highest  example  of  American  eloquence.  It  deserves  to 
rank  with  Jeremiah's  Lamentations  in  its  longing  for  the 
knowledge  of  the  eternal  world. 

"We  came  to  you  over  a  trail  of  many  moons  from  the 
Setting  Sun.  You  were  the  friend  of  our  fathers  who 
have  all  gone  the  long  way.  We  came  with  one  eye  partly 
opened  for  more  light  for  our  people  who  sit  in  darkness. 
We  go  back  with  both  eyes  closed.  How  can  we  go  back 
blind  to  our  blind  people  ?  We  made  our  way  to  you  with 
strong  arms  through  many  enemies  that  we  might  carry 
back  much  to  them.  We  go  back  with  both  arms  empty 
and  broken. 

"Two  fathers  came  with  us.  They  were  the  braves  of 
many  winters  and  wars.  They  were  tired  in  many  moons 
and  their  moccasins  wore  out.  We  leave  them  asleep  by 
your  great  water  and  wigwam. 

"Our  people  sent  us  to  get  the  white  man's  Book  of 
Heaven.  You  took  us  where  you  worship  the  Great  Spirit 

269 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

with  candles,  but  the  Book  was  not  there.  You  showed 
us  images  of  the  Good  Spirit  and  pictures  of  the  land 
beyond,  but  the  Book  was  not  among  them  to  tell  us  the 
way.  We  are  going  back  the  long,  sad  trail  to  our  people 
of  the  dark  land.  You  make  our  feet  heavy  with  gifts 
and  our  moccasins  will  grow  old  carrying  them.  But  the 
Book  is  not  among  them.  When,  after  one  more  snow 
we  tell  our  poor,  blind  people  in  the  Big  Council  that  we 
did  not  bring  the  Book,  no  word  will  be  spoken  by  our 
old  men  or  our  young  braves.  One  by  one,  they  will  rise 
up  and  go  in  silence.  Our  people  will  die  in  dark 
ness  and  they  will  go  on  the  long  journey  to  other 
hunting  grounds.  No  white  man  will  go  with  them  and 
no  white  man's  Book  to  the  way  plain.  I  have  no  more 
words." 

But  while  the  Indians  apparently  failed,  the  journey 
was  not  in  vain.  William  Walker,  Jr.,  a  Methodist  half- 
breed  of  the  Wyandot  tribe,  was  sent  by  our  government 
from  Upper  Sandusky  to  Saint  Louis  to  arrange  for  the 
transfer  of  the  Wyandots  to  a  reservation  farther  west. 
General  Clark  told  Walker  of  the  strange  request  of  the 
Indians  and  introduced  him  to  them.  Walker  sent  a 
letter  East  which  was  published  in  the  New  York  Chris 
tian  Advocate  and  Journal.  This  awakened  the  Meth 
odist  Church  and  led  to  the  first  mission  to  the  Oregon 
Indians.  Moreover,  the  conversion  of  many  Wyandots 
and  the  deep  need  of  this  and  other  tribes  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  which  raised  and  spent  $200,000  in  the 
evangelization  of  the  Oregon  Indians.  The  account  of 
this  strange  journey  by  the  Indians  also  led  the  American 
Board,  then  representing  the  Congregational,  the  Dutch 

270 


RESUME 

Reformed,  and  the  Presbyterian  Churches,  to  send  out 
Marcus  Whitman,  Samuel  Parker,  and  H.  H.  Spalding — 
one  by  each  denomination — who  rendered  providential  serv 
ice  to  the  Indians  and  to  the  United  States  government  in 
securing  Oregon.  Under  the  divine  providence,  the  Ameri 
can  Indians  inspired  the  founding  of  the  Oregon  Mis 
sions. 

2.    HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN 

Impartial  history  will  not  fail  to  recognize  the  far- 
seeing  and  heroic  efforts  which  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany,  the  British  government,  and  above  all,  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin  put  forth  in  the  early  discovery  and  control  of 
the  Oregon  Country.  Our  record  also  shows  that  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  built  eleven  forts  and  trading 
posts  in  what  is  now  American  territory  and  exercised 
authority  over  the  British,  the  Indians,  and  occasionally 
the  Americans,  over  the  entire  Pacific  Coast  from  the 
Russian  possessions  to  California — then  the  northern 
province  of  Mexico.  We  have  written  in  vain,  if  our  narra 
tive  has  failed  to  show  the  firmness,  promptness,  financial 
ability,  and  Christian  spirit  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  who 
ruled  a  country  second  in  size  to  Russia  alone  among  the 
compact  organizations  of  the  world;  secured  immense 
profits  for  his  Company,  a  just  and  rich  portion  of  the 
vast  territory  for  Great  Britain,  and  who  led  her  without 
a  war  to  make  the  inevitable  surrender  of  the  larger  and 
richer  portion  of  the  country  to  the  United  States.  We 
accept  Lyman's  estimate  of  the  wisdom  of  McLoughlin's 
administration:  "It  may  be  said  too  that  he  gave  to 
America  all  she  could  have  gained  by  war,  and  that  he 
saved  England  all  that  could  have  been  saved  by  war." 

271 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

"He  ruled  for  twenty  years  a  country  as  large  as  Charle 
magne's  as  absolutely  and  as  worthily  as  Charlemagne."1 

3.    THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSIONARIES 

No  one  can  read  the  story  of  Fathers  Brebeuf,  Chau- 
monot,  Gamier  and  Jogues,  of  Hennepin  and  Marquette, 
of  Blanchet  and  Demers,  without  recognizing  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries  in  Canada,  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast  equaled  and  often  excelled 
in  heroism  and  untiring  efforts  the  pioneers,  hunters,  and 
Protestant  missionaries.  Most  of  the  Catholic  missionaries 
came  from  France;  and  the  French  names,  Champlain, 
Superior,  Prairie  du  Chien,  Saint  Louis,  Vincennes,  and 
New  Orleans,  are  the  imperishable  records  of  their  jour 
neys  and  their  labors.  The  escape  from  capture  of  Marie 
Baptiste  and  her  two-months  journey  alone  and  that  of 
another  Algonquin  woman2  equal  the  stories  of  Mrs. 
Chaboneau  and  Mrs.  Dorion,  and  show  equally  fine  ma 
terial  for  Christian  missions  among  the  Indians  whom  the 
Roman  Catholics  reached.  But  the  slaughter  of  the  Iro- 
quois  by  their  savage  neighbors,  the  fact  that  an  over 
whelming  majority  of  the  converts  among  the  Catholic 
as  among  the  Protestant  missionaries  accepted  Christianity 
as  a  magic  power  to  deliver  them  from  hunger  and  dangers 
and  abandoned  it  when  they  discovered  that  it  did  not 
furnish  miraculous  relief,  above  all  the  disappearance  of 
the  Indians  as  a  whole,  left  the  Roman  Catholic  mission 
aries  in  the  larger  portion  of  the  United  States  only  a 


1  Lyman,  History  of  Oregon,  vol.  ii,  pp.  354,  355. 
J  Parkman,  The  Jesuits  of  North  America,  pp.  405-414. 

272 


RESUME 

few  French  names  as  the  evidence  of  their  influence  upon 
the  civilization  of  the  country.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  worked  longer  and  more  continuously  in  behalf 
of  the  Indians,  she  brought  a  larger  number  of  mission 
aries  to  the  field,  and  she  made  conditions  of  church  mem 
bership  more  acceptable  to  the  Indians  than  did  the 
Protestants;  consequently  she  has  enrolled  a  larger  num 
ber  of  converts.  But  because  the  Roman  Catholic  mission 
aries  chiefly  came  from  France,  or  from  French-Canada, 
and  represented  a  foreign  nation  and  an  autocratic  form 
of  civil  and  religious  life,  they  contributed  almost  nothing 
to  the  shaping  of  the  civilization  which  now  prevails 
throughout  the  continent.  Francis  Parkman  thus  sums 
up  their  work  in  one  section  of  the  country,  and  his  judg 
ment  applies  equally  to  the  whole  of  the  United  States: 
"The  Jesuits  saw  their  hopes  struck  down ;  and  their  faith, 
though  not  shaken,  was  sorely  tried.  The  providence  of 
God  seemed  in  their  eyes  dark  and  inexplicable ;  but  from 
the  standpoint  of  liberty,  that  providence  was  as  clear 
as  the  sun  at  noon.  Meanwhile  let  those  who  have  pre 
vailed  yield  due  honor  to  the  defeated.  Their  virtues  shine 
amidst  the  rubbish  of  error  like  diamonds  and  gold  in 
the  gravel  of  the  torrent."3 

4.     THE  UNITED  STATES 

During  the  first  forty  years  of  our  republic  our  peoples 
did  not  realize  that  the  Japanese  Current  raises  the  tem 
perature  of  Oregon  and  Washington  as  the  Gulf  Stream 
raises  the  temperature  of  England  and  Ireland.  The 
founders  of  the  republic  deemed  the  Oregon  Country  a 


Ibid.,  pp.  552-555. 

273 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

mountainous  waste  with  cold  and  inhospitable  shores. 
They  believed  that  the  Rocky  Mountains  presented  an 
impassable  barrier  to  the  further  progress  of  western 
migration.  They  regarded  even  the  country  west  of  the 
Mississippi  as  largely  composed  of  the  Great  American 
Desert.  Moreover,  our  fathers  believed  that  the  republic 
would  fall  to  pieces  of  its  own  weight  if  they  attempted 
to  extend  it  across  the  continent,  with  such  widely  sepa 
rated  peoples  and  such  diverse  interests.  On  account  of 
these  conditions  American  statesmen  were  in  serious  dan 
ger  at  first  of  losing  the  Oregon  Country.  But  despite 
these  apparently  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  possession 
of  a  fair  share  of  the  Oregon  Country  by  the  United 
States,  careful  search  of  the  records  has  shown  that  a  few 
congressmen  and  senators  and  at  least  four  Presidents — 
Jefferson,  Monroe,  Jackson,  and  Polk — put  forth  states 
manlike  efforts  to  make  secure  American  rights  in  the 
country,  and  that  in  the  end  the  United  States  succeeded 
in  her  purpose. 

5.    THE  OREGON  PIONEERS 

The  United  States  owes  a  very  large  debt  of  gratitude 
to  Captain  Gray  and  John  Jacob  Astor  and  N.  J.  Wyeth, 
to  Kelley,  Gale,  Ebberts,  Meek,  and  Thornton,  and  to 
Christian  pioneers  of  the  type  of  Hall,  Royal,  Whitcomb, 
Gray,  Shortess,  Babcock,  and  Abernethy,  whose  services 
and  sacrifices  helped  the  nation  to  secure  her  magnificent 
position  upon  Puget  Sound  and  to  lay  the  foundations 
for  that  influence  upon  the  Pacific  Basin  which  America 
will  exercise  for  all  time  to  come.  That  American  civili 
zation  is  as  promising  as  it  is  on  the  Pacific  Coast  is  due 
to  the  silent  labors  and  sufferings  of  heroic  men  and 

274 


RfiSUMfi 

women  who  lived  unheralded  lives  and  rest  in  unvisited 
tombs. 

6.     MARCUS  WHITMAN 

We  are  sorry  that  facts  which  can  no  longer  be  set  aside 
compel  the  rejection  of  what  now  seem  to  be  partisan 
claims  in  behalf  of  Dr.  Whitman,  and  to  a  lower  estimate 
of  Dr.  Whitman's  services  to  the  nation  than  we  held  for 
many  years.  But  a  survey  of  all  of  the  facts  leads  to  an 
even  higher  estimate  of  heroism  and  unselfish  devo 
tion  to  the  Indians  and  to  the  Kingdom  upon  the  part 
of  both  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman  than  we  had  formerly 
realized. 

After  long  investigation  we  are  clear  that  Dr.  Whitman 
did  not  lead  our  government  to  modify  her  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  and  thus  secure  for  us  the  Puget  Sound 
region,  and  in  this  judgment  we  are  following  the  over 
whelming  majority  of  American  historians.  Dr.  Whitman 
did  not  induce  any  considerable  number  of  the  eight  hun 
dred  emigrants  who  went  to  Oregon  in  1843  to  start  upon 
that  journey,  and  he  was  their  official  guide  during  only 
a  small  portion  of  the  way.  But  Dr.  Whitman,  with  A.  L. 
Lovejoy,  did  make,  during  the  winter  of  1842-43,  one  of 
the  most  heroic  journeys  recorded  in  history;  he  did  visit 
Washington  and  confer  with  Webster  and  President  Tyler, 
and  he  possibly  exercised  a  slight  influence  upon  the 
administration;  he  did  encourage  some  citizens  to  start 
on  the  famous  journey  to  Oregon,  and  he  accompanied 
that  famous  band  of  emigrants,  ministering  to  the  sick, 
encouraging  the  down-hearted  and  inspiring  the  farmers 
to  take  their  wagons  through  the  mountains.  He  did 
hasten  their  journey,  and  the  largest  band  of  American 

275 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

emigrants  which  down  to  that  time  had  ever  crossed  the 
Rocky  Mountains  made  the  journey  to  the  Pacific  Coast 
in  safety.  Not  Dr.  Whitman  but  this  great  migration  of 
settlers  by  sheer  weight  of  numbers  insured  the  continu 
ance  of  the  provisional  government.  Moreover,  the  success 
of  this  great  migration  to  Oregon  deepened  interest  in  the 
Oregon  problem,  helped  to  shape  the  Democratic  platform 
of  1844  and  to  carry  the  election  on  a  platform  which 
secured  the  49th  parallel  as  a  boundary  line  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  But  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Whitman  did  lead  in  the  intro 
duction  of  education,  modern  medicine,  farming,  and 
Christian  civilization  into  that  vast  inland  region  lying 
between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific  Coast, 
ministered  to  thousands  of  roaming  Indians  in  the  gospel 
and  in  applied  Christianity,  and  sealed  their  ministry  by 
death  as  the  first  Christian  martyrs  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  No  exaggerated  claims  are  needed  to  place 
Marcus  and  Priscilla  Whitman's  names  on  the  martyr  roll 
of  Christendom. 

7.    JASON  LEE 

In  regard  to  the  work  of  Methodists  in  the  Indian 
Missions,  the  record  shows  that  the  Wyandot  Indians  were 
the  occasion  leading  to  the  organization  of  the  greatest 
society  in  Methodism,  now  represented  by  the  Board  of 
Home  and  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions;  that  Jason 
Lee  met  President  Andrew  Jackson  and  secured  the 
indorsement  of  the  President,  the  secretary  of  state  and 
the  secretary  of  war  for  the  founding  of  our  Mission  in 
Oregon;  that  the  Methodist  Mission  was  the  earliest  mis 
sion,  Protestant  or  Roman  Catholic,  organized  in  Oregon, 
and  that  Jason  Lee  preached  the  first  Protestant  sermon, 

276 


RESUME 

baptized  and  received  into  the  church  the  first  Protestant 
converts  on  the  Pacific  Coast;  that  he  was  in  touch  with 
the  heads  of  the  United  States  government  in  1833,  1838, 
1839,  and  1840;  that  the  Methodists  drafted  the  first  three 
petitions  to  our  government  to  extend  its  authority  over 
Oregon ;  that  some  nine  of  the  twenty-six  measures  which 
the  government  inaugurated,  including  four  of  the  nine 
bills  introduced  into  Congress,  were  connected  in  some 
measure  with  Methodist  initiative;  that  Jason  Lee  sug 
gested  the  land  grants  which  from  1838  onward  were 
incorporated  in  all  the  bills  relating  to  Oregon  and  which, 
with  his  speaking  tour  through  twelve  States  and  the 
newspaper  campaign  he  inaugurated,  were  the  chief  causes 
of  those  large  emigrations  to  Oregon  which  saved  the 
country  to  the  United  States;  and  that  the  President  of 
the  United  States  granted  Lee,  from  the  secret  service 
fund,  aid  to  lead  out,  in  1840,  the  largest  body  of  mission 
aries  and  emigrants  which  to  that  date  had  entered  Oregon, 
and  that  these  emigrants,  with  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  which  Dr.  White,  an  ex-Methodist  Missionary, 
led  to  Oregon  in  1842,  made  possible  the  provisional  gov 
ernment  of  1843 ;  that  while  W.  H.  Gray,  a  Congregational 
layman,  took  the  lead  in  the  final  step  for  a  provisional 
government,  the  Methodists  were  the  influence  back  of 
him  making  possible  this  government.,  and  that  the  first 
governor,  treasurer,  and  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  were 
members  of  our  church.  It  was  the  struggle  in  the  Willam 
ette  Valley  of  the  preacher  and  the  school  teacher,  of  the 
farmer  and  home-maker,  against  the  trapper  and  the 
hunter ;  and  the  Methodists  were  the  leaders  of  civilization 
in  that  struggle.  The  simple  story  of  his  deeds  places 
Jason  Lee's  name  high  on  the  bead-roll  of  prophets  and 

277 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

martyrs  begun  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews  and  not 
yet  concluded. 

8.     DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 

Above  all  the  efforts  of  all  the  parties  in  this  struggle, 
a  study  of  the  facts  must  more  and  more  impress  upon 
all  students  of  the  problem  the  conviction  of  a  Divine 
Providence  operating  in  human  affairs. 

(1)  The  patient,  heroic,  but  very  discouraging  labor 
of  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  missionaries,  chiefly  in 
the  Oregon  Country,  has  resulted  in  the  salvation  of  a 
remnant  of  the  Indians  which  gives  promise  of  yet  pro 
ducing  the  reformers  and  lawgivers  and  prophets  of  that 
race,  as  the  remnant  of  Judaism  under  God  produced  the 
Saviour  of  the  world. 

(2)  The  inspired  author  of  the  first  Gospel  mentions 
as  a  token  of  the  divine  favor  that  Peter  caught  a  fish 
and  found  in  its  mouth  a  shekel,  some  sixty  cents,  by 
which  he  was  enabled  to  pay  the  temple  tax  of  Jesus  and 
himself.     The   salmon   fisheries  of  the   Columbia   River 
have  sometimes  yielded  as  high  as  $15,000,000  in  a  season, 
and   they   will    average    $5,000,000    a    year    perpetually. 
Would  not  Saint  Matthew  to-day  find  a  larger  illustration 
of  the  divine  favor?     A  million  and  a  quarter  of  people 
now  live  in  the  American  portion  of  the  Columbia  water 
shed.     This  region  yields  annually  $200,000,000  worth  of 
grain,  minerals,  lumber,  fish,  fruits,  and  garden  products, 
with  only  a  fraction  of  its  resources  yet  utilized.    A  terri 
tory  larger  than  New  England,  with  a  far  milder  climate, 
facing  the  most  populous  part  of  the  globe,  with  unsur 
passed  harbors,  and  with  boundless  possibilities,  is  God's 
way  of  saying  to  Christians  of  the  twentieth  century — 

278 


RESUME 

"Manifold  more  in  this  time,  and  in  the  world  to  come 
eternal  life." 

(3)  But   this   fine   territory   with    its   large   material 
products  is  not  God's  only  answer  to  the  efforts  of  the 
Oregon  missionaries  and  pioneers.     After  the  arrival  of 
the  emigrants  in  the  fall  of  1843,  the  Americans 'in  the 
Columbia  Valley  outnumbered  the  British  three  or  four 
to  one.     But  the  British  were  so  reluctant  to  yield  the 
country  between  the  Columbia  River  and  the  49th  parallel 
that  Great  Britain  did  not  sign  the  treaty  until  1846.    No 
one  dreams  that  the  Puget  Sound  region  would  have  been 
yielded  June  15,  1846,  had  not  more  than  a  thousand 
Americans,    through   the   efforts   of   Lee   and  Whitman, 
and  Dr.  White,  poured  into  Oregon  before  the  treaty  was 
singed. 

(4)  January  24,   1848,  gold  was  discovered  in  Cali 
fornia.     Since  negotiations  for  our  Oregon  boundary  had 
dragged  on  from  1818  to  1846 — and  Great  Britain  was 
exceedingly  loath  to  give  up  the  claim  to  the  territory 
even  then — does  anyone  believe  that,  had  she  waited  until 
gold  had  been  discovered  and  reports  of  untold  wealth  had 
spread  like  wildfire,  she  would  have  signed  away  her  claim 
without  a  war? 

(5)  But  there  is  another  important  factor  which  made 
it  necessary  that  the  claim  should  be  settled  not  only  before 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  1848,  but  during  the  first  half  of 
1846.    We  were  on  the  verge  of  war  with  Mexico — indeed, 
we  were  in  a  war  with  Mexico;  the  battle  of  Palo  Alto 
was  fought  May  8,  1846,  and  the  Oregon  treaty  was  not 
signed  until  June  15,  1846.    Had  the  news  of  the  Mexican 
War  reached   Great  Britain   before  she  had   dispatched 
instructions  to  her  minister  in  Washington  to  sign  the 

279 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

treaty,  that  treaty  in  all  human  probability  would  not  have 
been  signed  in  1846.  Instead  of  confining  our  forces  to 
Mexico  alone,  the  United  States  would  have  been  forced 
to  struggle  with  two  nations  at  once;  and  this  would 
have  prolonged  the  war  until  the  discovery  of  gold  in  1848. 
The  discovery  of  gold  on  the  Pacific  Coast  would  have  led 
Great  Britain  and  Mexico  to  redouble  their  efforts  to  hold 
their  claims.  Each  of  the  events  of  this  drama  presses 
upon  the  heels  of  its  predecessor.  It  is  probable  that  only 
the  settlement  of  Oregon  through  missionary  initiative, 
which  resulted  in  the  yielding  of  the  claims  to  the  Puget 
Sound  region  in  1846,  saved  us  from  war  with  Great 
Britain,  the  strongest  nation  on  earth,  in  addition  to  the 
war  we  were  then  waging  with  Mexico.  These  Nez  Perce 
and  Flathead  Indians  were  as  truly  sent  by  God  as  were 
the  visions  of  the  man  of  Macedonia;  and  Jason  Lee  and 
Marcus  Whitman  were  following  plans  as  providential 
as  were  those  of  Paul  when  ne  invaded  Europe  with  his 
faith. 

(6)  But  the  acquisition  of  territory  of  large  extent  and 
boundless  wealth  and  the  avoidance  of  war  with  Great 
Britain  were  not  the  only  results  which  missionary  enter 
prise  helped  to  achieve;  the  church  sent  her  sons  to  bless 
others;  indirectly  they  secured  the  greatest  blessings  for 
ourselves,  that  is,  for  the  American  people,  including  our 
Negro  fellow  citizens.  Jason  Lee,  with  the  cooperation 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  effected  the  abolition  of  the  last  traces 
of  slave  owning  by  white  men  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in  1834, 
twenty-seven  years  before  the  great  war  of  1861-65.  Down 
to  the  Mexican  War  the  United  States  included  thirteen 
free  States  with  361,000  square  miles  of  territory,  and 
fourteen  slave  States  with  635,000  square  miles,  not  count- 

280 


RfiSUME 

ing  Texas.4  The  party  leaders  on  both  sides  knew  that 
the  area  of  the  United  States  north  of  the  Mason  and 
Dixon  line  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  embraced  417,000 
square  miles  as  compared  with  474,000  south  of  the  line. 
But  the  northern  territory  consecrated  to  freedom  was 
increasing  in  population  and  wealth  more  rapidly  than 
the  southern  territory.  Moreover,  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States  was  carried  north  by  the  Great  Lakes 
and  extended  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  along  the  49th  parallel ;  whereas  Mexico  owned 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  Cali 
fornia,  with  portions  of  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Colorado,  and 
Wyoming,  that  is,  almost  all  of  what  is  now  the  southern 


4  The  list  and  area  of  States  admitted  into  the  Union  be 
fore  the  declaration  of  war  with  Mexico  in  1846  is  as  follows: 
FREE  STATES  SLAVE  STATES 

Connecticut    4,965     Alabama    51,998 

Illinois,    56,665     Arkansas    53,335 

Indiana  36,354     Delaware    2,370 

Massachusetts    8,266     Florida    58,666 

Maine   33,040     Georgia    59,265 

Michigan    57,980     Kentucky   40,598 

New   Hampshire 9,341     Louisiana    48,508 

New  Jersey 8,224     Maryland    12,327 

New    York 49,204     Mississippi    46,865 

Ohio    41,040     Missouri    69,420 

Pennsylvania    45,126     North   Carolina 52,426 

Rhode    Island 1,248     South   Carolina 30,989 

Vermont   9,564     Tennessee    42,022 

Virginia    42,627 

13                          361,017     West  Virginia 24,170 

14  635,586 

West  Virginia  and  Virginia  were  united  in  1846. 

281 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

area  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Hence, 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  separating  the  free  from  the 
slave  territory,  if  extended  west  of  the  Mississippi,  would 
have  left  almost  the  entire  area  on  the  side  of  freedom. 
Texas  was  annexed  and  the  Mexican  War  was  begun  to 
redress  this  balance  and  secure  this  southwestern  territory 
for  slavery.  Had  the  United  States  surrendered  Wash 
ington  and  most  of  Oregon  to  Great  Britain  (and  Calhoun, 
Jefferson  Davis,  and  other  Democratic  leaders  voted  against 
the  organization  of  the  Oregon  territory),  then  the  terri 
tory  secured  by  the  Mexican  War  would  have  given  slavery 
the  larger  area  west,  as  well  as  east,  of  the  Mississippi. 

It  is  true  that  some  American  pioneers  had  settled  in 
Texas;  and  these  pioneers  claimed  that  Texas  had  con 
ducted  a  successful  revolution  and  had  won  her  independ 
ence  from  Mexico ;  and  Texas's  independence  was  acknowl 
edged  by  Great  Britain  as  well  as  by  the  United  States. 
But  as  we  showed  in  Chapter  VI,  Great  Britain  possibly 
was  induced  to  recognize  the  independence  of  Texas  by 
the  proposal  of  Tyler  to  surrender  the  Puget  Sound  region 
in  return  for  British  connivance  in  our  annexation  of 
Texas  and  seizure  of  Mexican  territory.  At  any  rate,  it 
is  clear  that  the  United  States  through  the  Mexican  War 
robbed  a  weaker  nation  of  an  immense  territory,  partly 
for  the  purpose  of  extending  slavery.  A  few  years  later 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  North  and  South  alike, 
paid  dearly  in  blood  and  money  and  tears  for  our  injustice 
to  the  Mexicans  and  to  the  Negroes.  An  impartial  his 
torian  declares:  "No  previous  war  had  ever  in  the  same 
time  entailed  upon  the  combatants  such  enormous  sacri 
fices  in  life  and  wealth."5 

6  Charnwood,  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  361. 

282 


RESUME 

But  the  securing  to  the  United  States  of  286,000  miles 
of  the  Oregon  Country  in  which  the  last  traces  of  slave- 
owning  by  white  men  had  been  abolished,  gave  to  freedom 
even  after  the  annexation  of  Texas,  etc.,  the  larger  area 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  This  was  the  divine  significance 
of  the  struggle  upon  the  part  of  missionaries  and  pioneers 
and  the  United  States  government  for  the  Oregon  Country. 
It  is  significant,  and  suggests  divine  influence  in  the  affairs 
of  men  and  nations,  that  while  a  great  majority  of  the 
Southern  members  of  Congress  followed  Calhoun  and 
Davis  in  opposing  the  bill  organizing  the  Oregon  territory 
with  its  anti-slavery  clause,  nevertheless  the  bill  passed 
through  the  vote  of  such  Democrats  as  Benton,  Linn,  and 
Douglas,  who  placed  patriotism  above  sectional  interests. 
To-day  the  South  perceives  as  clearly  as  the  North  that 
not  human  wisdom  or  strength,  but  Divine  Providence 
abolished  slavery  and  preserved  the  Union.  California, 
which  became  part  of  the  United  States  as  the  result  of 
the  war  with  Mexico,  waged  in  part  at  least  for  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery,  and  Oregon,  made  sure  to  the  United 
States  in  1846,  poured  their  men  and  money  into  the 
Union  side  in  that  great  struggle.  Suppose  that  this 
western  territory  had  been  held  by  foreign  powers,  or 
that  at  the  time  of  the  contest  over  slavery  we  had  still 
been  battling  for  Texas  and  the  gold  fields  of  California 
and  the  Puget  Sound  region  against  Mexico  and  Great 
Britain  combined,  humanly  speaking,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  free  the  slaves  and  preserve  the  Union  in 
1865.  The  Divine  Providence  is  the  key  to  history. 
"Manifold  more  in  this  time,  and  in  the  world  to  come 
eternal  life." 

(7)  But  the  salvation  of  a  remnant  of  the  Indians,  the 

283 


THE  OKEGON  SESSIONS 

possession  of  a  large  and  invaluable  territory,  the  avoid 
ance  of  war  with  Great  Britain,  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  and  the  abolition  of  slavery,  were  not  the  only 
blessings  which  the  early  settlement  of  Oregon  under  mis 
sionary  impulse  helped  to  secure  to  the  United  States. 
The  forces  for  the  last  great  struggle  in  human  history 
are  now  gathering  around  the  Pacific  Basin.  The  struggle 
of  the  twentieth  century  largely  will  determine  what  race, 
what  language,  what  civilization  and  what  religion  shall 
become  most  influential  in  this  great  Basin  during  the 
remainder  of  earthly  history.  The  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  by  their  positions  on  the  Pacific  Basin 
already  are  playing  large  parts  in  that  struggle.  Because 
these  two  nations  are  contributing  in  some  measure  to  a 
Christian  type  of  civilization,  it  is  of  incalculable  advan 
tage  to  all  races  that  they  settled  the  Oregon  problem  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  give  both  of  them  good  harbors  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  Only  future  centuries  can  reveal  the 
significance  of  the  peaceable  settlement  along  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Pacific  of  two  great  peoples — one  holding 
Seattle  and  Tacoma  and  the  other  Vancouver  and  Victoria, 
both  peoples  speaking  the  same  language,  governed  by  the 
same  ideals  and  aiming  in  some  measure  at  least  to  embody 
Christian  principles  in  the  civilization  of  the  largest  basin 
of  our  earth. 

It  is  because  the  Eoman  Catholic  and  the  Congrega 
tional,  the  Dutch  Eeformed,  Presbyterian,  and  Methodist 
missionaries  labored  to  save  the  Indian  race  and,  under 
God,  did  save  a  remnant  of  that  race;  it  is  because  the 
combined  efforts  on  each  side  led  to  a  fair  division  of  this 
territory  without  a  war,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  place 
the  two  great  Anglo-Saxon  races  side  by  side  on  the 

284 


BfiSUME 

Pacific  Coast  for  the  struggle  of  the  coming  centuries; 
and  it  is  because  these  tasks  were  accomplished  without 
war  but  with  a  heroism  unsurpassed  in  the  records  of 
human  history,  that  Oregon  Missions  take  their  place 
among  the  modern  "Acts  of  the  Apostles." 

W.  A.  Mowry  and  0.  W.  Nixon  have  shown  great  ability 
in  telling  the  world  of  the  heroism  of  Marcus  Whitman, 
H.  H.  Bancroft,  S.  A.  Clarke,  and  Horace  S.  Lyman  have 
surpassed  Mowry  and  Nixon  by  recognizing  the  heroic 
services  of  other  actors  in  the  drama.  Professor  Bourne 
and  Mr.  Marshall  discharged  a  loyal  duty  to  the  church 
and  to  the  nation  by  correcting  the  indefensible  claims 
made  in  behalf  of  Dr.  Whitman,  while  at  the  same  time 
they  recognized  the  lofty  character  of  the  missionaries 
and  their  valuable  service  in  behalf  of  Christian  civiliza 
tion  in  Oregon.  H.  Addington  Bruce  has  made  a  valuable 
contribution  in  setting  forth  the  great  services  of  our 
statesmen,  while  at  the  same  time  recognizing  the  services 
of  the  missionaries.  We  would  not  take  a  leaf  from  the 
laurels  with  which  any  of  the  heroes  of  American  history 
have  been  crowned.  But  impartial  history  owes  to  Mrs. 
Whitman  and  Mrs.  Spalding,  the  first  white  women  to 
cross  the  Eocky  Mountains;  impartial  history  owes  to 
Mrs.  White  and  Mrs.  Beers,  the  first  white  women  to 
establish  homes  on  the  Pacific  Coast;  to  Solomon  Smith, 
Cyrus  Shephard,  P.  L.  Edwards,  Susan  Downing,  and 
Elizabeth  Johnson,  the  first  white  school  teachers  on  the 
Pacific  Coast;  to  Harvey  Clark,  who  founded  the  Uni 
versity  of  the  Pacific;  to  Daniel  Lee,  one  of  the  two  first 
Protestant  preachers  on  the  Pacific  'Coast;  to  Anna  Pitman 
Lee,  the  first  missionary  woman  dying  for  posterity  on  the 
Pacific  Coast;  and,  above  all,  to  Marcus  Whitman  and  to 

285 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Jason  Lee,  who,  Mke  Moses,  led  their  peoples  to  the 
promised  land,  but  were  not  permitted  to  enter  in  them 
selves — laurels  not  less  green  and  lasting  than  those  upon 
the  brows  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

When  the  population  of  that  golden  coast  rises  to  30,- 
000,000  and  Victoria  becomes  the  Glasgow,  and  Seattle, 
Tacoma,  San  Francisco,  and  Los  Angeles  the  Liverpool, 
Antwerp,  Hamburg,  and  London  of  the  boundless  com 
merce  of  the  Pacific,  may  not  the  landing  place  of  the  first 
missionary  ship,  Lausanne,  become  the  Plymouth  Rock 
of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  Willamette  University  and  Whit 
man  College  be  their  Harvard  and  their  Yale  ?  Will  there 
not  arise  a  Buchanan  Read  or  a  Longfellow  to  sing  of 
rides  more  heroic  than  Sheridan's,  of  more  spiritual  sig 
nificance  than  that  of  Paul  Revere  ?  Will  not  some  spirit 
ual  descendant  of  M^rs.  Hemans  arise  to  sing  of  the  second 
Pilgrim  Band  who  left  home,  not  for  freedom  to  worship 
God  themselves  but  to  carry  light  to  those  who  sat  in  dark 
ness,  and  who,  while  struggling  to  save  a  dying  race,  mar- 
velously  helped  their  own?  "For  the  eyes  of  Jehovah 
run  to  and  fro  throughout  the  whole  earth,  to  show  him 
self  strong  in  the  behalf  of  them  whose  heart  is  perfect 
toward  him." 


286 


APPENDIX  I 

NAMES   OP   SOME   OF   THE   OREGON   PIONEERS 

This  list  is  not  complete.  We  have  included  all  the  Ameri 
cans  whose  names  we  could  find  down  to  and  including  those 
who  voted  for  the  provisional  government,  as  narrated  in 
Chapter  XI.  Imperfect  as  the  list  is,  it  is  by  far  the  com- 
pletest  list  of  Oregon  pioneers  which,  so  far  as  our  knowledge 
goes,  has  been  hitherto  compiled. 

Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition — 1805 

Degie,  Philip. 

DeLoar   (Lyman  III,  251). 

Rivet,  Francis. 
Arrived  on  Tonquin — 1811 

Thomas  McKay. 
Astor  party — 1812 

Cannon,  William. 

Dorion,  Madame. 

Dorion,  Baptiste. 

Dubruil. 

Gervais,  Joseph. 

LaBonte,  Louis. 

LaFramboise,  Michel. 

Lucier,  Etienne. 

McKay,  Jean  Baptiste  Deportes. 

Montoure. 

Revoir,  Antoine. 

The  above  are  believed  to  belong  to  the  Astor  party,  though 
not  all  of  them  have  been  identified. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1818 

Birnie,  James. 

Latta,  William. 

287 


THE  OREGON"  MISSIONS 

Pichette,  Louis  (Bancroft  I,  74,  says  settled  in  Valley,  1832). 

Ogden,  Peter  Skeen. 

Scarborough. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1821 

Plumondeau,  Simon  (Lyman  III,  264). 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1824 

Douglas,  James  (later  Sir  James). 

McLoughlin,  Dr.  John. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1824  to  1828 

Connell. 

Dease. 

Ermatinger,   Frank. 

Manson,  Donald. 

McKinlay,  Archibald. 

Pambrun,  Pierre  C. 

Work,  John. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1828-29 

Felix   Hathaway,   saved  from   wreck   of   H.   B.   Co.   vessel 
William  and  Ann. 

James  M.  Bates. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 18SO 

Dunn,  John. 

Roberts,  George  B. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1881 

Finlayson,  Duncan. 

Others  of  Hudson's  Bay  people  of  unknown  date,  but  'believed 
to  nave  come  before  1832 

Belaque. 

Chamberlaine. 

Charlevon. 

Dubois,  Andrew. 

Dupre,  Francis. 

Fancault. 

La  Chapelle,  Andre. 

Payette. 

Pournaffe. 

Quesnel,  Francis. 

288 


APPENDIX  I 

Rondeau. 

Shaugarette,  Louis. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1832 

Allen,  George  T. 

McLeod,  John. 

McNeill,  William. 
N.  J.  Wycth  party— 18S2 

Abbot— Killed  by  Bannock  Indians. 

Ball,  John. 

Breck,  W. 

Burditt,  S. 

Sargent,  G.f  died  1836. 

Smith,  J.  Woodman. 

Smith,  Solomon  Howard. 

St.  Clair. 

Tibbets,  Calvin. 

Trumbull,  G. 

Whittier. 
Independent— 1832 

Captain  O'Neal— Clarke,  vol.  I,  p.  199. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1833 

Tolmie,  Dr.  William  Frazer 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1834 

Rae,  William  Glen— In  Calif,  from  1841  till  death  in  1846. 
N.  J.  Wyeth  party  of  1834 — and  First  Group  of  Methodist  Mis 
sionaries 

Edmunds,  J.,  mentioned  by  Methodists,  probably  came  with 
this  party. 

Edwards,  Philip  L.,  Methodist  missionary-teacher. 

Hubbard,  Thomas  Jefferson. 

Lee,  Daniel,  Methodist  missionary,  retired  to  States  August 
14,  1843. 

Lee,  Jason,  Methodist  missionary. 

McCrary,  Richard. 

O'Neil,  James  H.,  converted  and  joined  Methodist  Church. 

Richardson,  Paul,  guide;  did  not  remain  in  country. 

289 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Roe,  Charles  J.,  mentioned  by  Methodists,  probably  came 
with  party. 

Sansbury. 

Shepard.  Cyrus,  Methodist  missionary-teacher. 

Thornburg,  killed  by  Hubbard  in  self-defense  in  1835. 

Walker,  Courtney  M.,  contract  teacher  for  Methodists  for 
one  year,  and  others. 
Young  and  Kelley  party — 1834 

Brandywine. 

Carmichael,  Lawrence. 

Ezekiel,  Elisha. 

Gale,  Joseph. 

Hauxhurst,  Webley  J.,  built  first  gristmill  in  Willamette 
Valley  in  1834;  converted  January,  1837,  and  joined  Methodist 
Church. 

Howard,  John. 

Kelley,  Hall  J. 

Kilborn. 

McCarty,  John. 

Winslow,  George  (colored). 

Young,  Ewing. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1834   (about) 

Anderson,  Alexander  Caulfield. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1835 

McLeod,  Donald. 
1835 

Bailey,  Dr.  William  J.,  an  attache  of  Methodist  Mission; 
married  Margaret  Smith. 

Gay,  George. 

Turner,  John. 
American  Board  missionaries — 1836 

Gray,  William  H.,  layman. 

Spalding,  Henry  Harmon,  minister,  and  wife. 

Whitman,  Dr.  Marcus,  medical  missionary,  and  wife. 
Second  Group  Methodist  Missionaries — May,  1831 

Beers,  Alanson,  blacksmith,  wife  and  three  children. 

Downing,  Susan,  engaged  to  marry  Cyrus  Shepard. 

290 


APPENDIX  I 

Johnson,  Elvira,  teacher. 

Pitman,  Anna  Maria,  later  married  Jason  Lee. 

Whitcomb,  J.  L. 

White,  Elijah,  physician,  wife  and  two  children;   left  mis 
sion  summer  of  1840  on  Lausanne. 

Willson,  W.  H.,  carpenter. 
Third  Group  Methodist  Missionaries — September  7,  1837 

Leslie,  David,  minister,  wife  and  three  daughters. 

Perkins,  H.  K.  W.,  minister,  left  Mission  in  late  summer 
of  1844. 

Smith,  Margaret,  teacher. 
Second  Group  of  American  Board  Missionaries — 1838 

Eells,  Cushing  C.,  minister,  and  wife. 

Rogers,  Cornelius,  layman,  drowned  February  4,  1843. 

Smith,  Asa  B.,  minister,  and  wife;  left  about  1841  or  1842 
for  Sandwich  Islands. 

Walker,  Elkanah,  minister,  and  wife. 
First  Group  of  Roman  Catholic  Missionaries — 1838 

Blanchet,  Francis  Norbert,  priest. 

Demers,  Modeste,   priest. 
1838 

Conner,  James. 

Williams,  Richard. 

Independent  Missionaries  Sent  Out  by  Congregational  Asso 
ciation — 1839 

Griffin,  J.  S.,  minister,  and  wife. 

Munger,  Asahel,  minister,  and  wife.  Worker  for  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  at  Waiilatpu, 
released  by  Whitman.  Worker  for  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
at  Salem.  Became  deranged  and  committed  suicide. 
Bent  by  Congregationalists  of  Hawaii  with  First  Printing 
Press — 1839 

Hall,  E.  O.,  printer. 
1839 

Eakin,  Richard  H. 

Ebberts,  George  Ward. 

291 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Geiger,  William;  worked  for  Methodists  1839-40,  and  then 
for  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  at 
Waiilatpu;  later  went  to  California. 

Johnson,  D.  G. 

Johnson,   William. 
Peoria  Party  Arriving  in  1839  and  1840 

Blair,  W. 

Cook,  Amos. 

Farnham,  Thomas  J. 

Fletcher,  Francis. 

Holman,  Joseph;  joined  Methodist  Mission;  married  Elmira 
Phelps. 

Kilborne,  R.  L. 

Moore,  Robert. 

Smith,  Sidney  W. 

Shortess,  Robert;  converted  under  Methodist  preaching. 
Independent  Missionaries — 1840 

Clark,  Harvey,  minister,  and  wife. 

Littlejohn,  P.  B.,  and  wife,  layman;  returned  in  1845. 

Smith,  Alvin  T.,  layman,  and  wife. 
1838  to  1840 

Armstrong,  Pleasant;  possibly  came  through  Lee's  influence. 

Davis,  George. 

Green,  John. 

Matts,  Charles. 

Thompson,  Phillip. 
Hudson's  Bay  Company — 1840 

Barclay,  Dr.  Forbes. 

Grant,  James. 

McBean,  William. 
1840 

Craig,  William. 

Doty,  William  M. 

Larison,  John. 

Meek,  Joseph  L. 

Newell,  Robert. 

Wilkins,  Caleb. 


APPENDIX  I 

Ebberts  Mentions  These  Men  as  Being  in  Country  About  1840 
Kernard,  John. 
Graves,  W.  H. 
Severn. 

Gray  Mentions  These  Men  as  Being  in  Country  About  1840 

Altgeier. 

Wilkinson,  George. 
Second  Arrival  Roman  Catholic  Missionaries — 1840 

Pierre  J.  De  Smet,  priest,  went  with  lay  missionaries  and 

sisters. 
Fourth  Group  Methodist  Missionaries — June  1,  1840 

Abernethy,    George,    treasurer   of   mission,    wife    and    two 
children. 

Adams,  Thomas. 

Babcock,  Ira  L.,  physician,  wife  and  one  child. 

Brewer,  Henry  B.,  farmer,  and  wife. 

Campbell,  Hamilton,  carpenter,  wife  and  one  child.1 

Carter,  David,  teacher. 

Clark,  Chloe  A.,  teacher. 

Frost,  Joseph  H.,  minister,  wife  and  one  child.1    Resigned 
February,   1843. 

Hines,  Gustavus,  minister,  wife  and  one  child,  sailed  for 
States  August  14,  1843. 

Judson,  Lewis  H.,  cabinet-maker,  wife  and  three  children. 

Kone,  W.  H.,  minister,  and  wife. 

Lankton,  Orpha,  teacher. 

Lee,  Jason,  minister,  and  wife. 

Olley,  James,  carpenter,  and  wife. 

Parrish,  Josiah  L.,  blacksmith,  wife  and  three  children. 

Phelps,  Almira,  teacher;  married  Joseph  Holman. 

Phillips,  Elmira,  teacher;  later  married  W.  W.  Raymond. 

Raymond,  W.  W.,  farmer,  and  wife. 

Richmond,  J.  P.,  M.D.,  minister,  wife  and  four  children; 
retired  to  States  September  1,  1842. 

Waller,  Alvan  F.,  minister,  wife  and  two  children. 

Ware,  Maria  T.,  teacher. 


1  Hines  and  Atwood  say  one  child,  Bancroft  says  "children." 
1  Hines  and  Bancroft  agree ;  Atwood  does  not  mention  a  child. 

293 


THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 

Roman  Catholic  Missionaries — 1841 

Mengarini,  Gregorio,  priest. 

Point,  Nicholas,  priest. 

Three  lay  brothers. 

Other  Roman  Catholic  lay  brothers,  and  also  sisters  came, 
but  we  do  not  know  their  names  or  the  dates  of  their  arrival. 

1842 

Brainard,  Peter. 

Osborn,  Russell. 

Prettyman,  Francis  W. 

Trask,  Elbridge. 

Wilson,  Albert  E.    (actual  date  of  arrival  not  mentioned; 
in  country  in  1842). 
Dr.  White's  Party— October,  1842 

Arendell,  C.  T. 

Barnam. 

Bellamy,  C.  W. 

Bennett,  Van  daman. 

Bennett,  Winston;  one  of  the  Bennetts  had  family. 

Bridges. 

Brown,  Gabriel,  and  family. 

Brown,  James. 

Brown,  William. 

Burns. 

Clark,  Patrick. 

Coats,  Q.  N. 

Coats,  James. 

Coombs,  Nathan. 

Copeland,  Alexander. 

Crawford,  Medorem. 

Crocker,  Nathaniel. 

Daubenbiss,  John. 

Davis,  Samuel. 

Davy,  Allen. 

Dearum,  John. 

Force,  James,  and  family. 

Force,   John. 

Foster. 

294 


APPENDIX  I 

Gibbs,  Joseph. 

Girtman,  and  family. 

Hastings,  Lansford  W. 

Hoffstetter,  John. 

Hudspeth,  J.  M. 

Jones,  Hardin. 

Lewis,  Rueben. 

Lovejoy,  A.  L. 

Matthieu,  Francis  Xavier;  joined  party  at  Laramie. 

McKay,  Alexander. 

McKay,  John. 

Meek,  Stephen  H.  L.;  joined  party  at  South  Fork. 

Morrison,  J.  L. 

Moss,  S.  W. 

Paul,  "Dutch." 

Perry,  J.  H.,  and  family. 

Pomeroy,  Dwight. 

Pomeroy,  Walter,  and  family. 

Robb,  J.  R. 

Shadden  (Sheldon),  T.  J.,  and  family. 

Sumner  (Summers),  Owen,  and  family. 

Smith,  Andrew,  and  family. 

Smith,  A.  D. 

Smith,  Darling. 

Towner,  Aaron. 

Storer,  Adam. 

Turnham,  Joel. 

Weston,  David. 

White,  Elijah.  =  52  men. 

White  says  112  in  party  when  organized  and  increased 
to  125;  McLoughlin  says  137,  probably  includes  mountain 
men  who  joined;  Medorem  Crawford  says  105  in  party; 
Lovejoy  says  there  were  about  70  armed  men;  Fremont 
says  there  were  64  armed  men;  Hastings  says  there  were 
80  armed  men. 
1842 

Berthier,  Francis. 

Ganthier,  Pierre. 

295 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

Matte,  Joseph. 

Moison,  Thomas. 

Remon,  August. 

Senecalle,  Gedereau. 
Roman  Catholic  Missionaries — 1843 

DeVos,  Peter,  priest. 

Hoeken,  Adrian,  priest. 

Three  lay  brothers. 

Bancroft  Mentions  Following  Hudson  Bay  Men,  but  Does  Not 
Give  Date  of  Their  Arrival. 

Ballenden,  John. 

Lewes,  John  Lee. 

Maxwell,  Henry. 

McDonald,  Angus. 

McDonald,  Archibald. 

McTavish,  Dugald. 

Simpson. 

List  of  French-Canadians  in  Oregon.    Taken  from  the  Books 
of  F.  X.  Matthieu. 

Arcouette,  Amable. 

Aubichon,  Jean  B. 

Auchibon,  Jean  Lingras  Alexis. 

Bernabe,  Joseph. 

Boivers,  Louis. 

Bonafante,  Antoine. 

Briscbois,  Olivier. 

Dalcourse,  Jean  B. 

Deguire,  Baptiste. 

De  Lord,  Pierre. 

Depot,  Pierre. 

Donpierre,  David. 

Du  Bois,  Andre. 

Ducharme,  Jean  B. 

Felice,  Antoine. 

Gregoire,  Etienne. 

Laderoute,  Xaxier. 

Laferete,  Michelle. 

Langtain,  Andre. 

296 


APPENDIX  I 


La  Platte,  Alexis. 
Le  Course,  Pierre. 
Lor,  Moyse. 
Maloine,  Fabien. 
Pagnon,  Luc. 
Panpin,  Jean  B. 
Pap  in,  Pierre. 
Osant,  Louis. 
Pariseau,  Pierre. 
Sanders,  John. 
Servans,  Jean. 
Vandalle,  Louis  A. 
Vandalle,  Louis  B. 


297 


APPENDIX  II 

LIST  OF  PERSONS  WHO  VOTED  FOR  THE  PROVISIONAL 
GOVERNMENT    OF    OREGON 

SHOWING  THEIR  RELATION  TO  THE  METHODIST  MISSION 

Armstrong,  P.  M.     May  be  "Pleasant  Armstrong."     Indepen 
dent,  1838-40. 

Babcock,   Ira   L.     Physician.     Fourth  Methodist   missionary 
party,  1840. 

Bailey,  W.  J.    1835.    "An  attache1"  of  the  Methodist  Mission. 
Married  Margaret  Smith. 

Beers,  Alanson.     1837.     Second  Methodist  missionary  group, 
p.  4. 

Bridges,  J.  L.    1842.    White's  party. 

Burns,  Hugh.     1842.     White's  party. 

Campo,  Charles.    Possibly  persuaded  by  Matthieu  to  vote  with 
Americans. 

Cannon,  William.    1812.    Probably  Astor  party. 

Clarke,  Harvey.     1840.     Independent  missionary. 

Cook,  Amos.    1839.    Peoria  party. 

Crawford,  Medorem.    1842.    White's  party. 

Davy,  Allen.    1842.    White's  party. 

Doughty,  W.  P. 

Ebberts,  George  W.    1839.    Independent. 

Fletcher,  Francis.    1839.    Peoria  party. 

Gale,  Joseph.    1834.    Young  and  Kelley  party. 

Gay,  George.    1835.    Independent. 

Gray,    William    H.     1836.      Whitman   party.      Subscriber    to 
Methodist  Church. 

Griffin,  J.  S.    1839.    Independent  missionary. 

Hauxhurst,  Webley  J.     1834.     Young  and  Kelley  party;   con 
verted  1837;  joined  Methodists. 

Hill,  David. 

298 


APPENDIX  II 

Hines,  Gustavus.     1840.    Fourth  Methodist  group. 

Holman,  Joseph.  1839.  Peoria  party;  joined  the  Methodist 
Church. 

Howard,  John.     1834.     Young  and  Kelley  party. 

Hubbard,  Thomas  J.  1834.  N.  J.  Wyeth  party;  subscriber  to 
Methodist  Church. 

Johnson,  William.    1839  (date  uncertain). 

Judson,  Lewis  H.    1840.    Fourth  Methodist  group. 

Le  Breton,  George  W.  1840.  Came  on  Steamship  Maryland, 
through  Jason  Lee's  influence  with  Gushing;  subscriber  to 
Methodist  Church. 

Leslie,  David.    1837.    Third  Methodist  group. 

Lewis,  Rueben.    1842.    White's  party. 

Lucier,  Etienne,  1812.    Astor  party. 

Matthieu,  Francis  Xavier.    1842.    Came  with  White  party. 

McCarthy,  William. 

McCrary,  Richard.    1834. 

Meek,  Joseph  L.    1840.    Independent. 

Moore,  Robert.    1839.    Peoria  party. 

Morrison,  John  L. 

Newell,  Robert.    1840.    Independent. 

O'Neil,  James  H.  1834.  Wyeth  party;  converted  and  joined 
Methodist  Church. 

Osborn,  Russell.    1842.    Independent. 

Parrish,  Josiah  L.    1840.    Fourth  Methodist  missionary  group. 

Pickernel,  John. 

Robb,  J.  R.  1842.  White  party;  subscribed  to  Methodist 
Church. 

Shortess,  Robert,  1839.  Peoria  party;  converted  under  Meth 
odists.  1841,  on  Building  Committee  of  Church  and  a  sub 
scriber  to  the  church. 

Smith,  Alvin  T.    1840.    Independent  missionary. 

Smith,  Sidney  W.    1839.     Peoria  party. 

Smith,  Solomon  H.  1832.  Wyeth  party;  subscriber  to  Meth 
odist  Church. 

Tibbets,  Calvin.    1832.    N.  J.  Wyeth  party. 

Weston,  David.    1842.    White  party. 

Wilkins,  Caleb.    1840.    Independent. 

299 


THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

Willson,  W.  H.    1837.    Second  Methodist  missionary  group. 
Wilson,  A.  E.  (About)  1842.    Subscriber  to  Methodist  Church. 

SUMMABY 

7  Methodist  missionaries. 

4  Members  Methodist  Church. 

5  Subscribers  to   Methodist   Church,   but   not   positively 

known  to  be  members. 

6  Came  out  in  Peoria  party — direct  result  of  J.  Lee's  work. 

7  Came  out  in  White's  party — result  of  Lee's  speeches  and 

White's  efforts. 
1  An  attachS  of  the  Mission. 
1  Came  out  on  Steamship  Maryland,  direct  result  of  Lee's 

work. 

31 — 3  counted  twice  =  28  of  the  52  votes  for  provisional 
government  are  directly  or  indirectly  due  to  Methodist  influ 
ence  in  Oregon. 


300 


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from  1795-1848,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Editor.  Philadel 
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APPLEGATE,  JESSE:  A  Day  with  the  Cow  Column  in  1843.  Over 
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ATWOOD,  A.:    The  Conquerors.    Cincinnati,  1908. 

BANCROFT,  H.  H.:  History  of  Oregon.     San  Francisco,  1886-88. 

BANCROFT,  H.  H. :  History  of  Northwest  Coast.  San  Francisco, 
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BARROWS,  WILLIAM:  Oregon:  The  Struggle  for  Possession. 
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BENTON,  THOMAS  H.:  Thirty  Years'  View.    New  York,  1865. 

BOURNE,  E.  G.:  Essays  in  Historical  Criticism.  New  York, 
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BROUILLET,  J.  B.  A.:  Authentic  Account  of  the  Murder  of  Dr. 
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DYE,  EVA  EMORY:  McLoughlin  and  Old  Oregon.  Chicago,  1900. 

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ENCYCLOPEDIA  BRITANNICA,  Eleventh  Edition:  Articles  on 
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ENCYCLOPEDIA  OF  MISSIONS:  Articles  on  "Methodist  Episcopal 
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FINLEY,  JAMES  B.:  The  History  of  the  Wyandott  Mission. 
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FITZGERALD,  JAMES  EDWARD:  Charter  and  Proceeding  of  Hud 
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GARRISON,  GEORGE  P.:  Westward  Extension  (vol.  17,  The  Ameri 
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HAMMOND,  C.  S.:  Atlas  of  the  World.  North  America.  Ham 
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HINES,  GUSTAVUS:  Oregon:  Its  History,  Conditions  and  Pros-, 
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LAUT,  AGNES  C.:  Pathfinders  of  the  West.    New  York,  1907. 

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THE  OKEGON  MISSIONS 

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304 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  Lord,  cited,  97,  102 

Abernethy,  George,  129,  136, 
140,  183 

Adams,  J.  Q.,  cited,  84,  99 

Aim,  7 

Alaska,  purchase  of,  66f.; 
harbors,  67 

Alderman,  I.  W.,  dispute  with 
H.  B.  Co.,  48,  65 

Almonte,  General,  100 

American  missionaries,  9 

Americans,  in  Oregon  Coun 
try,  64 

Anderson,  A.  C.,  62 

Anderson,  W.  P.,  34 

Arnold,  Matthew,  cited,  30 

Ashburton,  Lord,  and  Oregon 
boundary,  96,  98,  101 

Astor,  J.  J.,  trading  venture, 
49ff.f  85 

Astoria,  46,  founded,  49,  51 

Atlantic  Basin,  7 

Auburndale,  Massachusetts,  9 

Babcock,  I.  L.,  175,  177,  183 

Ball,  John,  115,  116 

Bancroft,  H.  H.,  estimate  of, 
12ff.;  and  Society  of  Cali 
fornia  Pioneers,  13f.;  esti 
mate  of  missionary  work, 
15,  36f.;  estimate  of  Lee, 
39,  41. 


Baylies,  Congressman,  cited, 
86,  90 

Benton,  Thomas,  cited,  88;  92, 
105,  106,  140 

Bewley,  Miss,  treatment  by 
Indians  and  Catholic  mis 
sionaries,  73 

Blanchet,  A.  M.  A.,  becomes 
bishop,  71 

Blanchet,  F.  N.,  in  Oregon, 
70;  archbishop,  71;  visits 
Europe,  71;  chairman,  175; 
resigns,  176 

Bromfield   Street   Church,   24 

Brooks,  William,  cited,  25,  26 

Brouillet,  J.  B.  A.,  vicar  gen 
eral,  72;  conduct  after  mas 
sacre,  72f. 

Bruce,  H.  A.,  cited,  105f.,  148 

Burr,  Aaron,  conspiracy  of, 
87 

Calhoun,   John   C.,    103,    142, 

143 
Carmichael,    Lawrence,     and 

distillery,  120 
Carson,  Kit,  136ff. 
Carver,  Jonathan,  109f. 
Catlin,  George,  42f. 
Champoeg,    school     at,    152; 

meeting  at,  173 
Chemekete,  mission  at,  196 


305 


INDEX 


Christian  Advocate  and  Jour 
nal  and  Zion's  Herald,  21, 
22 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  111,  112 

Clark,  Harvey,  198 

Clark,  William,  20;  expedi 
tion  of,  89,  111 

Clarke,  S.  A.,  173 

Conklin,  E.  C.,  cited,  33 

Corwin,  Tom,  142,  143 

Gushing,  Caleb,  and  Lee,  93, 
169 

Delano,  Columbus,  cited,  210f. 
Demers,  Modeste,  in  Oregon, 

70;  bishop,  71 
Derrick,  William  S.,  100 
De  Smet,  Pierre  J.,  70f. 
Dickerson,  Senator,  cited,  84 
Disosway,  G.  P.,  20,  21 
Dorion,  Madame,  story  of,  28f. 
Douglas,  James,  kills  Indian 

murderer,  46;  78 
Douglas,     Stephen     A.,     141, 

143f. 
Drannan,  William  P.,  136ff. 

Ebberts,  George  W.,  127ff. 
Edwards,   P.   L.,   40,    92,   123, 

152,  161 
Eells,  Gushing,  cited,  27;  235, 

238 
Eells,  Myron,  defense  of  Spal- 

ding,    74;     defense    of    Dr. 

Whitman,  251ff. 
Elliott,  Charles,  34 
Everett,  Edward,  100 


Figueroa,  Governor,  and 
Young  and  Kelley  party, 
120 

Finley,  James  B.,  34 

Fisher's  Colonial  Magazine, 
cited,  54 

Fisk,  Wilbur,  cited,  21,  24 

Floyd,  Congressman,  86,  89, 
90 

Fort  Colville,  47 

Fort  Cowlitz,  47 

Fort  Disappointment,   47 

Fort  Flat  Head,  47 

Fort  George,  47,  51 

Fort  Hall,  41 

Fort  Kootenai,  47 

Fort  Nisqually,  47,  53;  mis 
sion  at,  62f. 

Fort  Okanogan,  47 

Fort  Umpqua,  47 

Fort  Vancouver,  9,  42,  47,  53 

Fort  Walla  Walla,  47 

Fox,  H.  S.,  97,  104 

Fremont,  John  C.,  95 

French  Prairie,  150;  meeting 
at,  178 

Gale,  Joseph,  124ff. 

Gallatin,  A.,  83 

Gary,  George,  129,  140,  196, 
197,  209 

Gray,  Robert,  112 

Gray,  W.  H.,  74,  179ff.,  198, 
234,  235,  237 

Great  Britain,  care  for  sub 
jects,  56f.;  treatment  of  In 
dians,  77;  Mexico  and 
Texas,  98ff. 


306 


INDEX 


Hauxhurst,  W.  J.,  117,  158 

Hee-oh-ks-te-kin's  speech,  269f. 

Heron,  Mr.,  52,  53 

Hill,  Thomas,  187f. 

Hines,  Gustavus,  129,  174,  175, 
182 

Hines,  H.  K.,  cited,  30;  judg 
ment  of  Spalding  and  mas 
sacre,  74f. 

Holman,  Joseph,  165 

Houston,  Sam,  88 

Hudson's  Bay  Co.,  8,  9;  its 
charter,  45;  its  authority, 
46ff.;  forts,  47;  forbids  sale 
of  liquor,  48,  60f.;  dealings 
with  competitors,  49;  and 
Catholic  missionaries,  77; 
opposition  to  American 
missionaries,  53ff.;  value  of 
trade,  631;  plots  Puget 
Sound  country,  159;  re"- 
sume-,  271f. 

Huggins,  Edward,  52 

Hughes,  Edwin  H.,  35 

Hunt,  W.  P.,  crosses  conti 
nent,  49,  113 

Indians,  visit  to  Saint  Louis, 
19,  causes  of,  21ff.;  Iro- 
quois,  23;  contribution  to 
Oregon  missions,  25f . ; 
prayers  of,  27,  154f.;  reviv 
als  among,  27,  30,  194;  in 
the  Willamette  Valley,  44; 
first  service  for,  53;  and 
Roman  Catholic  mission 
aries,  53f.;  Cayuse,  72;  in 
Protestant  Churches,  79; 


and  United  States  govern 
ment,  107;  Flathead,  150; 
Nez  Perce",  150;  diseases  of, 
153,  1551,  185ft;  resume", 
268ff. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  cited,  88 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  cited,  85f., 

89,  111,  112. 
Johnson,  William,  175 
Joint  Occupancy,  46ff. 

Kelley,   Hall  J.,    91,   93,   110, 

113ft,  119,  168 
Kynett,  A.  C.,  35 

La  Perouse,  111,  112 

Lapwai,  church  at,  31 

Le  Breton,  George  W.,  175, 
182 

Ledyard,   John,   110ft 

Lee,  Daniel,  10;  40;  illness, 
62;  158;  200 

Lee,  Jason,  24;  influence  of, 
37;  birth,  37;  ancestors, 
37ft;  description,  39t;  call 
to  service,  40;  visits  Wash 
ington,  40;  his  associates, 
401;  starts  west,  401;  two 
noteworthy  sermons,  42; 
first  converts,  42;  relations 
with  McLoughlin,  61ff.;  and 
American  occupation,  63; 
and  Slacum,  911;  letter  to 
Gushing,  93,  96,  169;  land 
grant  bill,  93;  opposes  sale 
of  liquor,  1201;  and  Wil- 


307 


INDEX 


lamette     Cattle     Company,      Lewis,  Meriwether,  expedition 


121ff.;  correspondence  with 
Missionary  Society,  150f., 
199,  200;  opposition  to  slav 
ery,  152f.;  marriage  of,  158; 
starts  east,  160ff.;  at  Waii- 
laptu,  161f.;  death  of  wife, 
and  child,  162f.;  preaching 
and  lecturing,  163ff.;  aid 
from  government,  169f.; 
influence  with  Missionary 
Society,  171;  at  Honolulu, 
172 ;  Champoeg  meetings, 
173ff. ;  visits  Peu-peu-mox- 
mox,189ff. ;  change  of  policy, 
19 If.;  opens  Indian  Farm 
Mission,  195;  opens  Manual 
Labor  Boarding  School, 
196;  conducts  first  camp 
meeting,  199;  second  mar 
riage  and  its  effects,  203ff.; 
last  trip  east,  209f.;  vindi 
cation  of,  211f.;  death  of, 
212f.;  criticism  of,  213ff.; 
and  David  Leslie,  215f.; 
and  McLoughlin's  claim  of 
land,  216ff.;  relations  with 
Missionary  Society,  225ff.; 
possible  missionary  poli 
cies,  227fL;  resume,  276ff. 

Lee,  William  H.,  10 

Legare",  Hugh  S.,  100 

Leslie,  David,  appointed  jus 
tice  of  the  peace,  52;  at 
Nisqually,  62f.,  193;  peti 
tion,  95,  161;  175;  and  Lee, 
215f. 

Lewis,  Joseph,  188 


of,  89,  111. 

Lincoln,  A.,  143f.,  167. 

Linn,  Senator,  bills,  92,  93,  96; 
Elijah  White,  118. 

Livingston,  Edward,  91. 

Lovejoy,  A.  L.,  and  Dr.  Whit 
man,  239ff. 

Lyman,  H.  S.,  cited,  48,  631, 
69,  78. 

Mackenzie,  Alexander,  crosses 
continent,  56 

Mallalieu,  Willard  F.,  10 

Marshall,  W.  I.,  10 

Massacre,  Waiilatpu,  contro 
versy  over,  72ff.;  judgment 
of,  74ff.;  129,  130 

Matthieu,  F.  X.,  118,  129 

May  Dacre,  the,  43 

McCabe,  C.  C.,  10 

McDougal,  Duncan,  associa 
tions  with  Astor,  49ff. 

McKay,  Thomas,  sons  of,  25, 
41 

McLoughlin,  John,  treatment 
of  Methodists,  51f.;  Sabbath 
observance,  53;  opens 
school,  53;  birth,  59;  educa 
tion,  59;  career,  59ff.;  for 
bids  sale  of  liquor,  48,  60f.; 
relations  with  Lee,  61ff.; 
disputes  with  Simmons, 
Williamson  and  Alderman, 
65;  his  notable  services, 
65f.;  resigns,  67;  becomes 
American  citizen,  68;  un 
just  treatment  by  Ameri- 


308 


INDEX 


cans,  68;  death,  68;  tribute 
to,  69;  joins  Catholic 
Church,  71;  Willamette  Cat 
tle  Co.,  12 Iff.;  and  Gale, 
124f.;  and  slavery,  152f.; 
opposes  provisional  govern 
ment,  176ff.;  Willamette 
Falls  land  dispute,  216ff. 

McLoughlin,  John,  Jr.,  mur 
der  of,  46 

McTavish,  J.  J.,  at  Astoria, 
50. 

Mediterranean  Basin,  7 

Meek,  Joseph  L.,  128ff.,  146, 
199. 

Methodist  missionaries,  and 
Catholic  missionaries,  70f.; 
reach  Willamette  Valley, 
149 ;  commence  teaching, 
15 If.;  arrival  second  group, 
157;  third  group,  157;  in 
fluence  in  organizing  pro 
visional  government,  181ff. 

Mexico,  possessions  of,  7;  and 
Texas,  98ff. 

Minto,  John,  cited,  48 

Missionary  Society  of  Meth 
odist  Episcopal  Church,  for 
mation  of,  33;  relations 
with  Lee,  225ff. 

Missouri  Pur  Co.,  112 

Monroe,  James,  83 

New  York  Herald,  146 
Nisqually,  mission  at,  158,  166 
Northwest  boundary  dispute, 
9 


North-West  Fur  Co.,  9;  buys 
Astor  post  and  stores,  49ff. 

Ogden,  P.  S.,  78 

O'Neal,  Captain,  1161 

Oregon  Country,  area  of,  7f.; 
Americans  in,  64;  vague 
knowledge  of,  81ff.;  Con 
gressional  activities,  89ff. 

Oregon  missions,  influence  of, 
36f. 

Oregon  Provisional  Emigra 
tion  Society,  93,  168 

Oregon  Temperance  Society, 
120 

Pacific  Basin,  7 

Pacific     Christian    Advocate, 

articles  in,  12 

Pakenham,  Richard,  103,  105 
Pambrun,  Pierre  C.,  22 
Parker,    Samuel,    cited,    22; 

140,  233 
Parkman,  Francis,  on  Indian 

life,  28 

Penn,  I.  Garland,  35 
Perkins,  H.  K.  W.,  diary  of, 

cited,  26f. 

Pitman,  Anna,  arrival  in  Ore 
gon,  157;  marriage  to  J. 

Lee,  158;  death  of,  162f. 
Polk,  James  K.,  and  Oregon 

boundary,  104ff.;  and  Meek, 

133ft;    and   Thornton,    141, 

145f. 
Porter,    James    M.,    and    Dr. 

Whitman,  255f. 
Princeton  University,  34 


309 


INDEX 


Provisional   Government, 
173ff. 


Richmond,  J.  P.,  at  Nisqually, 
63,  193f.,  200;  meets  Lee, 
1651 

Roman  Catholic  missionaries, 
53f.;  70ff.;  and  Methodists, 
701;  and  Whitman  mas 
sacre,  73ff.;  resume",  2721 

Romance  of  Missions,  pub 
lished,  10 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  cited, 
861 

Rush,  Richard,  83 

Russia,  possessions  of,  7; 
treaty  with,  90 

Sacajawea,  28 
Sanders,  George  M.,  145 
Sehon,  E.  W.,  cited,  22 
Shaugarette,  Louis,  death  of, 

152 
Shepard,   Cyrus,   40,   93,   150, 

168;  death  of,  200 
Shortess,  Robert,  165 
Simmons,  M.  T.,  dispute  with 

McLoughlin,  65 
Simpson,  Sir  George,  145 
Slacum,  W.  J.,  in  Oregon,  911 ; 

report,  93;  Willamette  Cat 
tle  Co.,  122ff. 
Smith,  Sidney,  175 
Smith,  Solomon,  teacher,  26, 

53 
Spalding,  H.  H.,  24;  work  of, 

31;  charges  against  Catho 


lic  missionaries,  731;  judg 
ment  of,  741;  cited,  86; 
meets  Whitman,  234;  at 
Lapwai,  235ff. 

Stevenson,  R.  T.,  35 

Stewart,  John,  33ff. 

Texas,  controversy  over,  98ff. 

Tairkield,  Mrs.  W.  P.,  35 

Thomas,  F.  M.,  35 

Thornton,  J.  Q.,  139ff. 

Tolmie,  W.  F.,  52,  53 

Tracy,  Congressman,  cited,  84 

Tyler,  John,  cited,  97;  and 
Oregon  boundary,  98ff. ;  and 
Elijah  White,  118;  and  Dr. 
Whitman,  244ff. 

Tyler,  L.  G.,  cited,  98, 100 

United  States,  early  indiffer 
ence  to  Oregon  Country, 
81ff.;  Congressional  activi 
ties,  89ff.;  treaty  with  Rus 
sia,  90;  treatment  of  In 
dians,  1071;  aids  Lee,  1691; 
resume",  2731 

Upper  Sandusky,  celebration 
at,  34 

Upshur,  A.  P.,  succeeds  Web 
ster,  100;  cited,  100,  102 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  91 

Wagner,  W.  F.,  cited,  185 
Walker,  Courtney  M.,  40 
Walker,  Knox,  1341,  1451 
Walker,  William,  Jr.,  20 


310 


INDEX 


Waller,  A.  F.,  211,  dispute 
with  McLoughlin,  217ff. 

Warren,  Eliza  Spalding,  cited, 
30 

Wascopam,  mission  at,  158 

Webster,  Daniel,  and  Oregon 
boundary,  96,  98ff.;  and 
Elijah  White,  118 

Weir,  William,  112 

Weismann,  August,  cited,  33 

Welch,  Herbert,  35 

Whitcomb,  J.  L.,  161 

White,  Elijah,  appointed  sub- 
Indian  agent,  97;  work  of, 
117ff.;  215 

Whitman,  Marcus,  murdered, 
72;  140,  232ff.;  meets  Par 
ker,  233;  Spalding,  234;  at 
Waiilatpu,  235ff.;  famous 
ride,  239ff.;  controversy 
over,  244ff.;  services  to  Ore 
gon  country,  255ff.;  resume", 
275f. 

Wilbraham  Academy,  25,  37 

Wilkes,  Charles,  at  Nisqually, 
94,  assists  Gale,  124f.;  op 


poses  provisional  govern 
ment,  176 

Wilkinson,  James,  87 

Willamette  Cattle  Company, 
12  Iff. 

Willamette  Valley,  Indians 
of,  44;  Methodist  mission 
aries  reach,  149;  fertility 
of,  151 

Williamson,  Henry,  dispute 
with  H.  B.  Co.,  48,  65 

Willis,  Governor,  34 

Willson,  W.  H.,  at  Nisqually, 
62f.,  193f. 

Winship,  Captain,   112 

Winthrop,   Senator,  cited,   84 

Wyandot  Mission,  33 

Wyeth,  N.  J.,  24,  40;  forbid 
den  to  sell  liquor,  601;  93, 
115 

Young,  Ewing,  forbidden  to 
sell  liquor,  48;  92;  119ff.; 
death  of,  174 

Zion's  Herald,  115f. 


311 


14  DAY  USE 

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